Situational Control
by Jameson Rook
Summary: Captain Richard Castle is the best that the Navy SEALs have ever produced. When he is sent to New York to investigate the death of a SEAL, he is paired with Kate Beckett. When they uncover a dark secret, how will they survive, let alone solve the case?
1. Prologue

_** Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions. **_

__"Good morning, boys." Beckett smirked, ducking under the crime tape and sipping the horrific coffee from the paper cup in her hand. Ryan shot her a dopey grin, and waved eccentrically from where he was crouched next to the body.

"Hey, Beckett!" He squeaked, sidestepping the body of a man in front of him and bounding over in front of her. Ryan had only been part of their little homicide squad for closing in on three months, and he still reminded her of an over zealous puppy. Secretly, she found his enthusiasm endearing, though she would never tell Esposito that.

"Morning, boss." Esposito replied cooly as he walked over and elbowed Ryan in the side. "Settle down their, Fido, you're gonna get slobber on her shoes." Ryan shot him a glare but handed Beckett a clipboard anyway.

"What have you guys got for me, Lanie?" She muttered, stepping closer to the body and kneeling down. Lanie looked up with a smile and leaned back on her heels.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine. Male, mid thirties, two GSWs to the back of the head." Lanie reached forward with her pen and lifted something silver off of the man's chest that was strung around his neck. "His dog tags identify him as John Marquez, US Navy."

"Do you have a time of death?"

"Well, given lividity and liver temp, I'd put it around three this morning, but I can't know more until I get the body back to the lab." Beckett nodded and motioned for the other men with Coroner's Office jackets to load him into the van. Lanie gave a nonchalant wave and piled into the van behind the rest of the lab techs, leaving Beckett and the boys to canvass the rest of the scene.

Beckett approaced a couple of the uniforms that were talking to each other and leaning on their cruiser. She gave them a hard stare and placed her hands on her hips angrily.

"I hate to interupt this chat session, fellas, but in case you hadn't noticed, we've got a dead body and a hell of a lot of people to interview. Now, I don't think that I need to remind you that I call the shots around here. And, if you two don't start pulling your weight, I'll have you working traffic so fast it'll make your head spin. This is _my_ crime scene."

"Actually, Detective Beckett, that's where you're wrong." Came a booming voice from behind her. Beckett spun on her heels and came face to face with a tall, broad shouldered man. His dark hair was shaved into a crew cut, and the dark blue shirt and pants were so crisp and clean cut that they looked fresh off the store shelves.

"Excuse me, this is a closed NYPD murder investigation, you cannot be in here. Just who the _hell_ do you think you are?" She snapped, her eyes hard and icy as she stared at him. The man extended a military idea with an insignia containing an eagle and a trident.

"Captain Richard Castle, US Navy SEALs, ma'am. I am here because your victim there," He gestured to the body. "Is one of my boys. NCIS sent me instead of sending one of their usual investigator due to Marquez being a SEAL team member, which makes this investigation something of a sensitive nature. Any problems with that, Detective?" Castle gave her a falsely genuine smile.

"Actually, yes, I-."

"Good, because I am taking situational control in 3, 2, 1...I'm in charge." He snapped, crossing his arms over his chest and returning her icy glare. Their eyes were locked intently when Ryan and Esposito came strolling up to them.

"Hey, Beckett we...hey, wait, who's this guy?" Esposito hooked a thumb at Castle.

"Boys, this is CaptainRichard Castle. Apparently he is the big cheese around here now. NCIS sent him down." Beckett brushed past Castle roughly so that she could have a better look at the guys. "It seems that our victim is a Navy SEAL and this investigation is or a 'senstive nature'." She put her hands in the air and motioned fake air quotes, much to Castle's distaste. Ryan's eyes grew wide when he saw the kabar knife that Castle had.

"Hey, man, that's an awesome knife!" Ryan squeaked, his hand reaching towards the sheath on Castle's leg. "Can I hold it?" Beckett almost had to laugh at the sound of excitement that was laden in his voice. Castle batted Ryan's hand away and leveled a hard glare at him before responding.

"If you want to keep all of your fingers attatched to your hand, I'd advise against it." Behind him, Esposito used a file folder to stifle a laugh that caught in his throat when Castle spun on his heel and got directly in his face. "I do hope that you don't find this _funny_, Detective. It seems to me that there is a SEAL laying on the ground with his grey matter painting graffiti patterns on the sidewalk here. I don't find anything funny about that. Do you?" Esposito shook his head frantically and averted his eyes. "I didn't think so. I will see all of you back in your precinct at 0930. I do advise all of you to be punctual." He snarled and ducked under the police tape and sliding into the dark blue Tahoe on the other side of it. The crew watched him leave, all of them slack jawed and shocked.

_**So? Thoughts? Should I continue with this or just toss the idea out? I'd love to hear from you guys, good or bad, so drop me a review. Much love, J. Rook**_


	2. Chapter One

_** Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions. **_

_** So, I'm sorry for the short chapters, I definitely want to update this as soon as I can, which often results in little chapters. I'm hoping that the next one will be longer, and I hope you guys are enjoying this :) I have a very good idea of where this is going, but with my scattered brain, you never know. The plot could completely shift in my head before the end of this :) Anywho, here is the first actual chapter of "Situational Control", hope you enjoy! **_

__Castle was standing stalk still and staring at the overly organized murder board when the team strolled into the bullpen. He shot them all a disapproving glance and looked at his watch.

"I see that punctuality isn't your team's forte, Detective." He muttered, draining the rest of the coffee in his mug. He made a grim face as he set the mug on Beckett's desk. "That coffee tastes like napalm."

"Yes, well, not all of us have government funding that we can take advantage of and get fancy coffee pots, Mister Castle." Beckett retorted with a condescending smile.

"Captain."

"I'm sorry?"

"It is not 'Mister' Castle. It's Captain. I worked hard to achieve my rank and I'd prefer that you respect that and address me as such, Miss Beckett." She scoffed at him overtly.

"And I'd prefer that you refer to me as detective."

"Yes, but here's the beautiful thing about our little situation." In an instant, Castle was right in front of her, his nose nearly brushing hers. "I outrank you, _Miss _Beckett. We run this ship on my terms. Are we clear?" Beckett glared at him, but nodded anyway. "Fantastic. Gentlemen, I don't believe we've been formally introduced." He turned his attention to where the boys were discreetly trying to blend into the walls.

"I'm Javier Esposito." Esposito replied, his voice showing nothing but confidence as he shook the taller man's hand.

"And I'm Kevin Ryan. I must say, it's an honor to be working with someone of your-." Castle extended his hand in a 'stop' gesture, cutting Ryan off.

"I don't know how you people run things around here, Detective Ryan, but in my line of work, ass-kissing gets you no where but in a box being sent home with your fins and medals for your mama." Ryan gaped at him a moment before retreating to his desk, looking slightly like a beaten puppy. "Esposito, did anything shake out of the interviews with the people that found the body?"

"Not much. Just a bunch of college kids that were stumbling home after a night on the town. One of them had to take a leak, ducked down the alley to get some privacy and almost tripped over him."

"Well, that's one way to sober up, I guess. Gonna make for a helluva party story. Did the tox screens come back yet?" Esposito shook his head.

"Should be back within the next few hours though, sir." He replied. Castle eyed him for a moment.

"What branch did you serve in, son?"

"Air Force. I was trying to make my way through to SERE school when I caught some lead in the shoulder." Esposito smiled and pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal an angry looking scar. He grinned when Castle shook his hand once again.

"God, don't know how I missed that. Usually you can pick a Fly Boy out of a crowd easily."

"Liekwise, sir. You can always spot a Frogman. He's the one crawling in the mud instead of walking on the sidewalk." The men shared a hearty laugh before Ryan popped back into the conversation, grinning nervously.

"I served in the National Guard when I got out of high school."

"I could have figured that. Weekend Warriors stick out even worse than Fly Boys." Castle chuckled and clapped Ryan on the back. Beckett could visibly see him deflat as he walked back to his desk and slumped down. The sight of him looking so dejected had her blood boiling as she strode towards Castle. She hooked her arm through his and drug him into the break room, slamming the door behind her.

"Look, I don't care if you come in and you give me shit about how I run things, but you will _not_ break the morale and confidence of my boys. Do you understand me?" She snarled, poking him in the chest roughly. "You are not here to belittle every damned thing that comes out of his mouth!" She pointed covertly at Ryan, who was now laughing at something that Esposito had said to him. "I don't care if you don't think that serving in a reserve branch is as good as what you do, but to _him_ it is something important. So you better cut the shit. Are we clear?" Castle stared at her intently for a moment.

"Detecive, I did not intend to belittle or rob Ryan of his confidence. If you don't set a high standard for him, how will he ever better himself? In BUD/S training they teach you that the only day was yesterday, and that as soon as you stop improving yourself, you die. It may not be immediate, and it may not be sudden, but be damned sure that it's coming because you never get any better. _Perhaps_ someone should have been around to push you the way that I intend to mentally and physically push your team on this case." Beckett felt a twinge in her chest as she thought of Montgomery, and how much she did in fact miss him being around to push her to what she thought was her limits. But she decided to swallow her pride.

"Captain, I don't think that it would make a damned bit of difference. My team and I have the highest case closure rate in the entire state. We are the best that there is." Castle opened his mouth to respond when the door swung open and Esposito hung his head inside.

"Hey, lets go, Lanie just called and she has the tox screen." He hooked a thumb over his shoulder and gestured towards the elevator. Castle quirked an eyebrow at Beckett.

"Lanie?"

"She's our coroner. Ohhh, you're gonna loooove Lanie." She smirked and shot Lanie a text to warn her about the new edition. As soon as it sent, she led Castle to the elevator and hit the button for the ground floor. She was sure that, whatever Lanie found, this trip was going to be the most interesting trip to the morgue that she'd ever made.

_**Thoughts? Suggestions? Drop me a review and let me know :)**_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	3. Chapter Two

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

__"Hey, Lanie. What have you got for us?" Kate smiled and rounded the autopsy table where their victim was lying. Lanie looked up and did a double take when she saw Castle lingering at the end of the table.

"My, my. Who's this charming man that you've got with you, honey?" She smiled, and looked Castle over from head to toe.

"Captain Richard Castle, ma'am. I'm the supervising officer on this case." He extended a hand out to her, but Lanie lifted her hands that were coated in blue rubber gloves and shook her head.

"I'd shake your hand, but I guarantee that you don't want to know where these have been." Castle chuckled to himself softly and nodded in agreement, dropping his hand back to his side.

"So, what did you find, Lane?" Kate smiled.

"Well, cause of death is definitely the two GSWs to the back of the head. Looks like a .45 caliber bullet. I also found ligature marks on both of his wrists."

"So he was bound before he was shot?" Castle asked, crossing his arms over his chest and furrowing his brow. "How does a man with his type of training get capture, bound and shot? We spent weeks in Coronado learning what to do in case someone tried to do that." Castle raked his hands through his hair and paced the room angrily.

"I don't think that you should jump to any conclusions quite yet, Mister Castle." Lanie stated, waving a file folder in his direction.

"Captain." Rick grumbled under his breath and walked back to the autopsy table. "What have you got?"

"Well, the tox screen came back. Our vic had large quantities of cloraform in his system. So, he was unconcious before he was bound and shot. He didn't exactly have a chance to use all of that fancy training." Lanie continued, and lifted the man's hand. "See these bruises? There was obviously some sort of struggle and he tried to fight back. But, you are right about one thing, someone with his training wouldn't be overtaken by one man."

"So you're saying that there is a possibility of more than one killer?" Kate asked, scratching her head curiously with her pen.

"I'm saying that it's a very real possibility."

"Well, actually, if you think about it, it would make much more sense than the prospect of one guy being able to take down a SEAL." Rick replied, turning to face Kate. "Here, I'll show you. Do you mind if we use your space, ma'am?"

"No, not at all. You do what you have to do." She smirked at the nervous look on Kate's face.

"Okay, Detective Beckett, try to come up behind me and make like you're going to cloraform me." Castle turned his back to her and waited. Beckett walked up behind him slowly and put her arms around him, her hands close to his face.

Before she had a chance to react, Castle had neutralized her arms, spun her around and had his arms pinning hers and wrapped around her waist. He shifted slightly and a scorch of heat soared through her body and arrowed straight into the pit of her stomach. She turned her head and looked into his intimidating blue eyes, and felt her knees turning to jelly. She must have began to slip from his grip, because he shifted and tightened his arms around her stomach, his fingers brushing over a bare portion of her stomach.

Lanie conspicuously cleared her throat and the two jumped apart. Castle shifted his focus to Lanie.

"You see? There is no way that he wouldn't hear someone coming up behind him, and even if, by some twist of reality, he didn't hear it then there was no way he wouldn't be able to get out of it." He motioned for Lanie to come closer. "Now, when Kate is in front of me, you come up behind me and do the same thing she just did." Kate tried to supress the inexplicable flutter in her stomach at the sound of her first name rolling off of his tongue. Lanie complied and, with Beckett distracting him from the front, she was able to hold her hand over his mouth long enough that it was a plausible scenario for the man's death.

"I can definitely see that being a scenario." Beckett nodded. The shrill sound of her phone ringing shattered the silence. "Beckett."

"Hey, Beckett. It's Esposito. We've got a lead on the case, we checked his cell phone and he made a call to the same number eight times forty five minutes before his death, all of the calls lated under two minutes. The number traced back to a man named Nicholas Goodwin. Ryan and I are going to go bring him in and see what the phone calls were about and see if he knows anything else."

"Alright, thanks, Espo. I'll see you guys when you get back. Be careful." She ended the call and turned back to Castle. "Does the name Nicholas Goodwin mean anything to you?"

"No. Why?"

"Because our victim made eight calls to him in the forty five minutes before his death, all of the calls under two minutes. Ryan and Esposito are on their way up to bring him in now. I guess I'm going to head back upstairs and run financials on him. Thanks, Lanie, let me know if you find anything else." Castle extended his hand subconciously once again but Lanie chuckled and held up her hands again.

"Still got blood on my hands, soldier boy." She giggled at the embarassed grin on Castle's face. From near the door, Beckett scoffed, drawing both of their attention.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're not the only one in the room with blood on your hands. Is she, Castle?" She gave him a sarcastic smirk, but she had not been ready for him to brush past her and slam the door behind him, anger and hurt evident in his eyes.

"Damn, girl. That was harsh, even for you." Lanie said, her voice laden with disgust. Beckett sighed and ran her hands through her hair as she walked out the door and rode the elevator back up to the bullpen.

She stepped out, but didn't see him anywhere and let out a defeated sigh.

"Ryan!" She called, jogging over to his desk. "Have you seen Castle?"

"Yeah, I think I saw him headed up to the roof when I was coming back from the evidence lockers. What is up with him? He looked like he was going to have a breakdown." Ryan quirked an eyebrow and, instead of answering him, she bolted to the stairs and headed to the roof, not caring that she was wearing needle-like Stilettos.

When she finally reached the rooftop door, she took a deep shuddering breath, and finally opened the door. She saw him immediately, he was hunched over the railing on the opposite side of the roof, looking down onto the street. The wind blew across the baron rooftops, blowing the tandrils of her hair that had fallen into her eyes.

"Castle?" She called to him, but he didn't turn to look at her. She took another deep breath. "Rick?" She strode across the roof and ducked to look into his stormy eyes. She glanced down and saw blood dripping from his battered knuckles and a crack in the cement of the railing that was coated in blood. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, it was out of line and uncalled for." She whispered. She saw his chest heave as he took a deep breath.

"I was overseas, four years ago. We'd been in country for nine months. We were on a mission to take out a very important figure. We were finally going to take out the target, _finally_ going to carry out the mission that we had been planning for so long. I was going to get to go home." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "We were at a gala event, posing as caterers. The target was in his quarters in the back of the gala building. So, we headed down the hall to his room when the security guard took an unauthorized smoke break. Opened the door and he was sitting with his son." Beckett felt her heart drop. "We moved in and I had to make a choice. He pulled the boy in front of him and pulled a gun on us. I knew we didn't have long before he started shooting us, so I pulled the trigger. The bullet went through the boy and into him. They both died, we were out of there before anyone even realized what had happened. Hoped on a plane and was sitting on my couch watching ESPN by 0800 the next morning." He snarled, wiping the blood off of his knuckles and turning to face her. "So, yes, Katherine, I do have blood on my hands. But at least I'm willing to accept the fact that I do and I don't hide behind a shiny little piece of medal to cover my ass and justify killing someone." He flicked the badge on her belt and walked back downstairs and headed for the parking garage, leaving Kate looking at the spot that he had been standing and cataloging all of the "collateral damage" shots that she'd had to take over her career.

Perhaps he was right. She lifted the badge from her belt and held it in front of her face. It was gold, but she could almost see the blood that dripped from the edges of it. Her phone shattered her train of thought once again and she answered the question.

"Beckett."

"Beckett, we've got Goodwin down here in the interrogatoin room. You coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be right down."

"Is Castle coming?" Beckett was silent for a moment.

"I don't think so Espo. I'll be right down." She slid the phone into her pocket, took a deep breath, and allowed herself to slip back into the roll of hardass detective.

_**Woah. Two chapters in one day. Crazy. Thoughts? Reactions? Suggestions? Let me know. Much love, J. Rook**_


	4. Chapter Three

_** Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions. **_

__Beckett made her way back down to the bullpen slowly, trying to come up with some way to apologize to Castle. She was looking at her feet so intently that she hadn't noticed him standing in front of the interrogation room, and ran headlong into his solid chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She muttered, her eyes locking with his deep blue ones.

"Not to worry, no harm done." He replied, his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "Detective Beckett, I have to apologize. I shouldn't have implied that you hide behind your badge. I just get a bit...touchy when it comes to that subject." He muttered. She vaguely registered that his hands hadn't yet left her shoulders and still had her securely in his grip.

"I figured that you had left." She finally managed to whisper.

"Well, I was going to to." He chuckled nervously. "But I locked my keys in the car. Called my Chief, he said they can't send someone out to unlock it until tomorrow, and they can't send a regular lock smith because it's a military grade vehicle. Do you know what it's like being in a precinct full of cops that carry slim jims and totally unable to use them?" He chuckled loudly. Beckett barked out a laugh of her own before patting him on the back.

"Ah, I see. Trained in combat, but defeated but an automatic door lock." Castle gave her a halfhearted glare and shook his head.

"Besides, as far as I'm concerned, we're partners in this case. Partners have spats, but we need to move past it so we can work together to catch whoever did this to Marquez." Beckett ignored the increasingly familiar flutter in her stomach. "Now, lets go interrogate a potential connection, shall we?" He held the door open for her, gave a playful salute to Ryan and Esposito as they walked into the observation room, and followed her in.

Across the metal interrogation table was a thin, pasty man with a sprout of mangled black hair atop his head. The five o'clock shadow on his chin and jaw had grown out past stubble and was beginning to resemble a beard. He picked at the cuticles of the nails on his right hand absently, his foot jittering under the table nervously and his eyes darting around the room.

"Mister Goodwin, I'm Detective Kate Beckett, and this is my partner Captain Richard Castle, we'd like to ask you a few questions." The two of them took their seats and Castle took a photo of Marquez in his dress whites out of the folder in front of them and slid it across the table to Goodwin.

"Do you recognize this man, Mister Goodwin?" Goodwin squinted at the picture a moment, gnawing on his thumbnail as he gawked at it.

"Yeah, yeah, that's John. What about him?"

"He was found dead in an alleyway early this morning." Goodwin's eyes shot open in shock.

"Wh..what? John is dead?" He gasped, his voice choked with tears.

"What was your relationship with him? We know that he called your cellphone several times in the forty fives minutes before he died." Beckett said, her voice betraying nothing but self-confidence.

"We were friends, since we were kids. We grew up in Michigan together. Our parents were neighbors where we lived in Detroit, and we did everything together. I would do anything for him."

"What did he call you about, Mister Goodwin? We know that all of his phone calls to you lasted less than two minutes." Castle asked, leaning forward onto his elbows on the table, assuming an intimidating stance that they had taught him in the Navy.

"He was calling to ask about borrowing some money, he said that he was in a tight spot and he needed my help."

"Did he say how much money he needed?" Beckett questioned.

"He said he needed $35,000." Castle let out a long, low whistle.

"That's quite a bit of money, Mister Goodwin. What did you tell him?"

"I told him that I would have to see what I could get together. He said that he didn't have much time to get it." Goodwin replied, running his hand over the back of his neck slowly, his face transfixed on the photograph in front of him.

"Did he say what kind of a bind he was in?" He asked.

"He said that he was in a bad way with some worse people, that's all he would tell me. I'm sorry, but that's all I know."

"Did anything seem out of the ordinary about him?"

"He sounded like he was nervous. Very short, quick answers to all of my questions, but he was my best friend, I didn't really need to know, I would do whatever I could to help him."

"Okay, thank you for your cooperation, Mister Goodwin. If you think about anything else that could possibly help our case, don't hesitate to call us." Beckett shook the man's hand and handed him her card. The man shook both of their hands and left the room with Ryan and Esposito escorting him.

"So, what do you think?" Beckett asked him curiously, eyeing the furrow between his eyebrows.

"I think there's something that he is hiding. He knows more than he is telling us." He replied, pinching the bridge of his nose between her thumb and forefinger. "I just wish I knew what it was." Kate patted him on the back and grinned.

"Well, there's not much else we can do about that today." She replied, and pointed to the clock that had somehow spun from 0900 to 1700 hours before he knew it. The day had flown by. "Care for a lift home, partner?" Castle chuckled and nodded.

"I would appreciate it." They slipped on their jackets and headed towards the elevator. They rode the elevator down to the garage and slipped into Beckett's cruiser.

"So, where are you staying?" Castle gave her the address to the hotel that the Navy had put him up in and they headed out into the, now rainy, night. They rode in silence until the sound of Rick's phone shattered the serenity of the car.

"Castle." He answered smoothly. Kate quirked an eyebrow at the grin that spread across his face as he talked in hushed tones. "Hey, Pumpkin, how are you? Good. That's awesome. Did you have a good day at school? Oh, that's wonderful, honey. I'm glad you're having a good time with Gram. Yes, I don't know when I'll be home, but I miss you too. I'll video chat you tomorrow okay? Good night, sweetheart. Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite. I love you." He ended the call and looked at his phone a moment before slipping into back into his pocket, not even sparing a glance toward her.

"You have a kid?" She finally asked, the unanswered questions killing her.

"Yes, Alexis." He pulled up a picture of himself, an older woman and a small, redhead girl clinging to his back at Disneyland. "She's the love of my life. She's twelve going on twenty. I swear that little girl is way too mature for her age." He chuckled, the admiration and pride for the girl shimmering in his smile and eyes as he spoke. "Her mother took off to California to be a movie star after she was born, and I had just joined the SEALs so my mother has helped me raise her for the most part. Do you have any children, Detective?"

"None to speak of. Never married, no kids. I have never had time for a real relationship." She grimaced as she thought back to fiasco with Royce. Thankfully, they pulled up outside of Castle's hotel in the next moment.

"You want to come upstairs? I can order some room service and we can actually get to know each other better." There was that damned fluttering in her stomach again. "I figure, if we're going to be working together a while we might as well get aquainted." She ignored the voice screaming 'run!' in her head and nodded, smiling politely.

"Yeah. I'd like that." She parked the car outside the curb, grabbed her coat and headed up the hotel where Castle held the door open for her and they hopped into the elevator, and started the ascent to his room. God only knew what they both had in store when they reached their destination, but Beckett had a feeling that she and Castle were going to get along just fine.

_**Thoughts? Feelings? Suggestions? Reactions? Let me know, drop me a review. Much love, J. Rook**_


	5. Chapter Four

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe, and ABC Productions.**_

_** WARNING: This chapter contains some more adult situations, nothing too graphic, but it is out of the ordinary for this fic. **_

__"No, seriously, he was full on sprinting through the base, nothing on but a smile, with all of the MP's running after him." Rick's laugh rumbled through his chest as he recalled his bootcamp buddy's drunken antics. Kate joined him in his laughter, her stomach cramping from the effort.

"Did they catch him?" She gasped between the shocks of laughter. Castle shook his head violently, his eyes clenched shut.

"Nope. He made it all the way to the Commandants office, saluted him and walked right back into the barracks." He replied, wiping the tear that had fallen from his eye. They had both had more shots of the Jose Cuervo than either of them would admit to and they were thrown haphazardly across the incredible uncomfortable carpet of the hotel room. In front of them, the fireplace that was built into the wall crackled and popped loudly.

Castle reached into the bowl of lime wedges in front of them and plucked one out. He lifted the salt shaker, licked the webbing between his thumb and pointer finger, and salted it. In one movement, he licked the salt, downed the shot of tequila and sucked the juice from the lime. He pulled his lip back over his teeth as the liquid burned down his throat, and threw the lime into the fire.

"Good God, where di you say you learned this from?"

"It was in a book I read once." Beckett giggled loudly as she leaned over and grabbed a lime, overtly placing it in between his fingers. She felt the inhibitions that she had been pressing to the front of her brain slipping away with the slow burn of tequila in her stomach. Castle quirked a brow curiously, but did not move from his position.

She motioned for him to wet his hand and watched as his tongue slid over the rough skin slowly, her eyes locked with his as she watched his pupils darken significantly. She lifted the salt shaker and dashed some of it on his hand before filling the shot glass.

Her tongue snaked over his hand, lapping the salt away and she moved to down the tequila, feeling it warm the pit of her stomach, and finally bit down on the lime, the citrus juice exploding over her taste buds and balancing out the burn of tequila.

Castle growled low in his throat as he watched her, his slacks suddenly feeling much too tight. Kate pulled away from him and licked her hand, wiping the wet pads of her fingers on the tight sinew of tendons on the side of her neck. She sprinkled some salt on the tanned skin, handed him another shot and smiled at him.

He glanced down towards the bowl of limes and reached out in front of him, but her fingers closing around his wrist stopped him. He gave her a confused look, but all confusion drained from his face when he saw the bright green skin of the lime clenched between her teeth which were curved into a sensual smile. He swallowed hard, his tongue feeling much to big and dry for his mouth.

Castle swallowed down the tequila first before moving in to run his tongue over her warm skin. The salt mixed with a musky taste that he could only describe as 'Kate', she was overwhelming. Something in the back of his brain was screaming for him to stop, to walk away and not look back, but that something was silenced by his heart thundering in his ears.

His lips closed over her pulse point and his teeth scraped roughly over the soft flesh, her tendons pressing against him as she arched into his touch. He kissed his way slowly up her neck until he reached her jaw, snaking over the sharp edge of skin stretched over the bone, and moved to her lips. The rush of citrus rushing past his lips and teeth was a drastic contrast to the notes of tequila that hung on both of their lips. He spit the lime into the fire place and hooked his arm behind her, lifting them both off of the floor and moving smoothly to the bed.

He laid her onto the obnoxiously patterned bedspread on the king sized bed, her hair splayed out around her head like a halo. He pulled back and looked down at her, his sea blue eyes blown black with desire and matching her own smoldering gaze.

"We're drunk." He whispered, his lips a breath away from hers. Kate nodded slowly, her eyes trained on his mouth.

"That we are. What's your point?" She replied, rolling her hips against the startling obvious evidence of his arousal. A gravel-laden growl eminated from somewhere deep in his chest, his steely self control quickly fading.

"I was sure I had one when I started this sentence, but I can't remember it for the life of me, now." He muttered, his face buried in the crook of her neck. His hips bucked wildly into her hand as she ran her palm over the fly of his pants slowly. He gasped, her name tumbling quietly from his lips. Kate slipped her shirt over her head and revealed the unassuming black lace that was covering smooth ivory skin.

His breath nearly stopped all together when she guided his hand back around to the back of her body, his rough fingers unclasping the hooks and letting the material drop.

"Are you sure that you want to do this? I don't want things to get weird between us, and what with us having to work on this case together..." She swallowed roughly and wiggled beneath him a moment. "It could get interesting."

"Beckett..." He sighed a moment before shaking his head and continuing. "Kate, I don't want to think. I've spent so many days and nights over there thinking about what's right and what's wrong, I just want to do something that I feel is right. And, trust me, this feels right." He pulled her into a deep kiss, his tongue slipping past her lips and mingling with hers. "I know that you've wanted this since I met you, and I am positive that I have. So, just shut up and kiss me, woman." He smirked, his lips hovering over hers. And that was all it took, the last of her resolve melted away like ice cream left out on hot pavement. Their lips met in a mashing over teeth and tongues that sent a fire scorching through her unlike anything that she'd ever felt before in her life.

The harsh words of defiance from the day, and the battle for domination at the precinct were long forgotten in exchange for the rasps of aroused breaths, the growl of unreleased tension, and the thundering of hearts pounding together well into the dark hours of the night. They both allowed themselves to be swept under by something they had let go ignored for far too long. Their hearts.

** Situational Control~Situational Control~Situational Control**

The smell of fresh cotton and the breeze floated through the window, his eyelids didn't quite open. He allowed the sounds of the city morning float into his ears, his body not completely used to waking to that sound instead of the crashing of waves on some far off shore. The obnoxious scratch of sand on his skin, in every crevice, was blissfully absent in his half asleep, half awake state.

He turned over, the cool and crisp white sheets wrapped tightly around his hips, and stretched the sleep from his body. The sounds of the street floors below became more aggitated as the minutes passed. The sickly, tar and smoke taste on the back on his tongue reminded him of why he had quit drinking so much soon after joining the Navy. His stomach churned angrily, and his head throbbed behind his eyeballs.

A strangled groan beside him had his eyes shooting open and his body flipping over, his hand instinctively clutching the nine-millimeter on the night stand. The sight of messy brown curls and intense green eyes locking with his stopped his finger from slipping into the trigger guard and had his jaw dropping instead.

"Oh, shit." He muttered, raking his hands over his close cropped hair.

"You can say that again." Kate groaned again, her arm draped over her eyes. "What the hell were we thinking?"

"I believe that the whole idea of tequila is _not_ thinking." He chuckled, cursing the headache that over took him. "The 'hand margarita' thing was your idea though. You need to stop reading so much." Kate sat up slowly and reached down to grab his shirt next to the bed. The awkwardness settled over them heavily.

"So...I'm gonna go shower...and I'll meet you at the precinct?" She mumbled, running her hand over the back of her neck.

"Um, yeah. Sounds good." Rick leaned in to kiss her, but the quick flip of her head had his lips landing on her cheek. In a flash of tanned skin and brown hair, she was gone, the bathroom door closing behind her, leaving him to slump back against the bed and catalogue all of the ways that moment could have possibly been more awkward, though he couldn't think of much else.

There had been many, many times in his life that Richard Castle had royally fucked up. This was, _by far_, the worst. He stood and gathered his clothes, dressing with a sigh and getting ready for what was most likely going to be one of the most awkward work days in his career.

_**So, I'm sorry this is so short. Hopefully the next one will be longer. Much love, J. Rook**_


	6. Chapter Five: Dear John

_** Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

___Undisclosed Location_

_ 19 September, 2001_

_ "What's up, Castle?" Lewis clapped him on the back as he walked past him and settled into the grainy sand around their propane heater. _

_ "Not much, man, what've you got?" Castle gnawed on the hardened piece of beef jerky that had been sitting in the bottom of his ruck sack for far longer than he cared to admit. _

_ "Mail call, picked it up from the air drop. You got a couple." Lewis tossed a stack of letters to him, and stood from his spot, leaving Castle to read them in private. He took a deep breath and opened the first letter._

**Hey Rick,**

** I've been staring at this paper for hours, trying to figure out exactly how to say this. I don't think that I can do this anymore. I am so tired of waiting for a phone call that won't come, and I am tired of having to wonder where you are and if you're safe. I am going to be moving to Los Angeles, my agent found me an audition out there and I'm going to take it. I have sent the divorce papers, can you just sign them and send them back so we can get through this as painlessly as possible? Alexis is going to be staying with your mother until you get back from where ever the hell you're at these days. I'm sorry that I couldn't do this in person, but, lets be honest, when do I ever get to see you in person? I wish you the best.**

** Meredith**

_ Rick sat and stared at the letter for a moment, his jaw hanging open in shock. He had thought that things had been going really well with Meredith. They had a beautiful daughter, she had just gotten a deal with her agent and he had graduated BUD/S training a few months before. Sure, he'd been gone for much longer than he'd expected to be gone, but there was nothing he could do about that. He'd signed on the dotted line, the Navy owned his ass until his discharge date. _

_ He let the letter drop into the flames, watching the edges of the paper char and shrivel inside the blue flames. He watched the rest of it burn to a crisp before opening the next letter. He knew from the weight of it that it was the papers. _

_ He scanned over them quickly, not really reading them, but focusing enough to have a vague understanding of what the words said. He moved on autopilot from there, removing the pen from his chest pocket, and signing his name and initialing in the marked spots. He folded the papers and slid them into the envelope again, his hands shaking. _

_ He wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to do now. The woman that was supposed to be with him, for better or worse, had just sent him papers to end their marriage and had pawned their daughter off on his mother. He slipped the white gold ring from his finger and turned it over in his palm a few times. He remembered the day that she'd slipped it onto his finger as if it were the day before. He sighed, shook his head, and dropped the ring into the flames, watching the fingers of blue-red flames licking over the sides and blackening the sheen of the ring. _

_ He made a promise to himself then and there. Richard Castle would never be on the recieving end of another 'Dear John' letter again if it was the last things he ever did. _

He strode into the 12th less than an hour later, showered and clad in a pressed pair of dress slacks and perfectly creased dress shirt. He clutched the cup of coffee in his hands as if would grow legs and try to run away. The scowl that had been etched onto his face since Kate had slipped out of bed and overrun his bathroom, while he went to grab something from the continental breakfast. By the time he'd gotten back from forcing down a half stale bagel, over-ripened oranges, and burnt coffee, she had made quick work of fleeing the 'scene of the crime'.

He snarled to himself and went about getting ready, nearly scrubbing his skin raw, trying to wash off any remnants of the night before. He would _not_ allow himself to be put in the position where he was going to be following her around like some dumbass lost puppy. No sir. Not again.

He straightened his shirt and moved from where he'd been hovering in the door to the stairwell. He walked past Ryan and Esposito, ignoring their 'good morning's and attempts at making small talk. Instead of acknowledging anyone, he moved to the murder board that he'd set up in front of the desk. He stared at the board, running his hand over the back of his neck and letting the air slip between his teeth.

The case hadn't yielded really any breaks yet, but it was still early. Then, there was Goodwin. There was something not right about that guy. Something that he was hiding, but Castle couldn't quite put his finger on it. Though, he had a feeling that, whatever it was, was something that could crack the case wide open.

He was enthralled in his own train of thought when the elevator chimed and the doors slid open, revealing Beckett, her hair and make up looking as if she had never slipped out of her facade that was her detective persona. Castle glanced across the room, his eyes locking onto her. The only thing out of the ordinary about her was the fact that her eyes were trained on the floor, as if the space between her feet was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. She shuffled to her make shift desk and settled into the chair, booting up her computer and doing her best to melt through the chair into the floor.

Castle watched her, intently but covertly, and noticed that the boys were speaking to her. He watched their lips and was able to make out the words 'are you okay?', and he caught Kate's answer that looked something to the effect of 'yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing'. Nothing. That was really nice. Apparently there was nothing about the night they'd shared together that made him more memorable than 'nothing'.

He gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists tightly, returning his gaze to the murder board and scanning over the stastics of the victim. He sighed and poked his head out the office door into the bullpen.

"Esposito, here, now." He barked, his face set into a grim line. Esposito quirked an eye brow at Ryan, who answered by shrugging nervously. He stood and moved quickly into the office.

"Yes, sir?"

"What did you gentlemen find out through financials?"

"Well, our vic had three separate deposits of $35,000 two days before he died. They all came from unidentifiable accounts overseas. We haven't been able to find out what the deposits were for."

"So, we're basically still in the same situation that we were before?" He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers and paced slowly.

"Yes, sir. That seems to be the case." Esposito whispered, a hint of shame in his voice.

"Have we searched his apartment?"

"Not yet, sir."

"I need you and Ryan to go down and see what shakes out of his place. We've got to get _something_ in this case or we're fucked. Right now, all we've got going for us is this dodgey interview with Goodwin, and that's just a hunch that he's hiding something. I need you guys to come through for me on this."

"I'll see what we can do. I'll call you if we find anything." They walked out into the bullpen and Esposito gestured for Ryan to follow him. The two men cleared out, leaving Castle and Beckett standing in awkward silence until Castle excused himself and headed to the evidence locker. He couldn't say that he was surprised about the pitter-patter of her heels clicking on the floor behind him.

He stepped into the evidence locker and she followed him, slamming the door behind both of them.

"Okay, look." She growled, grabbing the lapels of his shirt and slammed him against the wall, getting directly in his face. "I've only been here for fifteen minutes and you're already treating me like shit. I know that last night was a mistake, but I will be damned if we let it effect solving this case." Castle let out a humorless laugh.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you think I'm treating _you_ like shit?" He snapped, his eyes going stormy and angry. "You are the one that took off like I had the plague this morning. I didn't think that last night was a mistake. That was all you, _Detective Beckett_. So, do _not_ come in here and accuse me of compromising this investigation. I am here to find out what happened to my SEAL. If you don't want to admit that there is a chemistry between us because of your own cowardice, that's fine by me, but do not bring my morals and ability to conduct an investiagtion into it. I don't deserve it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a murder investigation to conduct. If you feel like joining the rest of us in the real world, feel free. The air out here is quite refreshing once you get out in it." He pushed past her, grabbed a small bag of the victims personal effects and exited the room, purposfully shutting the door with more force than necessary and leaving Kate standing there with her mouth hanging agape.

He had made it halfway down the hallway before he heard the door open and Kate hurried to catch up with him.

"I'm sorry." She muttered, not looking him in the eye. "I'm used to having to run my relationships like this. I fly by the seat of my pants. I am impulsive and I tend to hurt anyone that means anything to me, so I never let anyone get close enough to hurt me. I don't want you to be the next person that leaves me hanging."

"Kate, I would never be the one to leave you hanging. You've already made that abundantly clear. You would be the one hanging me out to dry when you realize how much of a broken, fucked up man I am, or when something better came struting past you in a fine pressed uniform. So, let's make this clear now. I am _not_ going to be another Dear John letter. Especially not one for some stuck up homicide detective that thinks that she owns the world. Lets finish this case so I can go back to DC and you can go back to doing whatever the _fuck_ it is that you do. Clear?" With that, he spun on his heel, walked back to his makeshift office, and slammed the door before slumping down at his desk, feeling totally drained of energy and stamina. Kate Beckett was going to be the death of him. He was sure of it. But there was no time for that now. There was something more important that he needed to figure out. His phone rung loudly, interupting his thoughts.

"Castle. Oh, hey, Esposito." His jaw nearly hit the floor when he heard the next statement from Esposito. "You found _what_? Okay, yeah, we're on our way. Keep the perimeter secure and don't let anyone in there until we arrive. I'm serious, Esposito." He ended the call and burst into the bullpen. "Beckett, we've got to go now, they found something. And its big." She stared at him, wide eyed but followed him to the elevator anyway, not nearly stupid enough to comment about the way he was nervously shifting from one foot to the other. All she knew was that this was going to be a game changing discovery, it was written all over his face.

_**Thoughts? Feelings? Suggestions? Drop me a review and let me know. Much love, J. Rook**_


	7. Chapter Six: Reanimation

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

_** I never claim to know anything about the travel time that it takes to get from NYC to the country side of New York, so I'm going to take some creative liberty here with travel times. Also, this is going to be where my love of horror movies and action/adventure is going to start brewing. Up to this point, it has been a rather normal case-fic/romance story between Rick and Kate. But, I assure you that this is going to be a game changing chapter. Though, I will warn you, it may be a bit of a sci-fi thriller, with the military-laden Caskett fic that it has been so far. Hold onto your hats, folks, its going to get a bit bumpy.**_

__The ride through town was quiet and the air in the Tahoe was full of tension. Castle's white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel was enough to tell Kate that speaking was probably not the best idea in the situation. She tried to figure out exactly how it was that the boys had only seemed to be gone for an hour at most when Esposito had called, and yet they had been driving for going on two hours. Perhaps they had been gone much longer than she had originally thought. Yelling at the man who was supposed to be posing as your stand-in partner was definitely a way to pass the time.

She gnawed on her thumb nail nervously as she watched the windshield become rain streaked and the lights of the city blurred into tiny blobs.

"So...where are we going?"

"The vic's apartment isn't actually an apartment. He lives in a house in the country, bought twenty acres of land out there." He steered the truck down a dirt road that was gouged full of potholes and jagged rocks that were buried in the dirt.

"And apparently he bought the last stretch of land that technology hasn't reached." Kate muttered, raising her cell phone out the window and scowling at the 'no service' icon. She sighed and shoved the phone back into her pocket. "Do you have any signal out here?" Castle shuffled slightly in his seat before producing his phone and growling.

"No, I have nothing. Apparently nothing gets out here. But, then again, look around. This is the definition of 'middle of no where'." He slowed the Tahoe as he swerved around the deep gouges in the road. "And, they obviously don't know how to pull a grate over this and smooth it out. This is ridiculous." He mumbled mostly under his breath but loud enough in the otherwise silent cabin for Beckett to hear him.

They crested the steep incline of the ever growing and winding dirt road, just as the sun hit the highest point in the sky, pushing through the clouds that had previously doused the land with rain. Castle slipped a pair of sunglasses on his face, squinting against the harsh, and sudden scorch of the sun.

"So, are we ever going to talk about what happened again or are we leaving it at 'neither of us wants to get hurt so we don't need to discuss it'?" She muttered, not really looking at him, but instead looking out the windshield at the landscape.

"Do you really think that this is the best time to discuss this, Kate?"

"What else do you have to do, Captain? It's not like you're going anywhere else any time soon." She gestured to the road ahead of them and leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs at the ankles and hooking her hands behind her head.

"Detective." He sighed and ran his hand over his hair quickly, his hand on the wheel tightening even further than she'd thought possible. "What do you want me to say, Kate? _Please_, tell me. Because, I honestly have no idea."

"I don't know, Rick. It was a mistake, but it doesn't feel like it. For the first time in longer than I can remember, I did something that I wanted to do instead of something that I thought was the right thing to do. I went with my gut. And, I'm not going to lie, it felt damned good. But, we work together. It can't happen again, and that _sucks_ to know that. It sucks to know that the one thing I want because it feels right is the one thing that could crucify me where I stand." She rested her head in her hands, her muscles quivering.

"Kate, you don't have to make up some excuse about it 'feeling right' for me. You can tell me that I was a one night stand. I will understand that. I made it through everything that I've made it through so far, I am used to pain. I'm used to rejection, and I'm used to people leaving me. Just be fucking honest about it, don't hide from what you're feeling about the situation." His voice was oddly calm and even as he spoke, his eyes fixated on the road in front of him.

"What the hell, Castle? I'm not making up some excuse! I'm being honest with you. I really like you. There was an immediate physical attraction, you said that last night yourself. There's no denying that. But that doesn't mean that I should jump into bed with every guy that takes inventory on my...assets, and makes my knees go weak. The world doesn't work that way, _Captain_." She snarled, turning in her seat so that she was staring at him.

"Look, I'm not saying that you should jump into bed with every dumb Joe blow that gives you google eyes, but I am saying that if something is as obvious as whatever the _hell_ it is that we've got going here, you should at least take that fact into consideration." He snapped, turning his head toward her, completely ignoring the road.

"Castle!" Kate suddenly screamed, her hands going to the ceiling and center console to steady herself. A man had staggered across the field next to the road, seemingly out of nowhere, and managed to place himself directly in front of the grill of their Tahoe. Castle cursed under his breath and slammed on the brakes.

The tires skidded across the dirt of the road until the vehicle finally stopped. They both flew from the truck and drew their guns, rounding the front of the vehicle slowly, the weapons in front of them. There was no sound coming from the man in front of them as they moved, but Castle's eyes still scanned his body for movement.

The man's clothes were tattered, and torn. The material of each article was covered with layers of dirt so thick that he couldn't completely make out what color each of them were supposed to be. The closer that they got, the more the stench overwhelmed them. It was the rotted scent of death, mixed with a mildew and mold smell of decay, and something more cleanly. An acetone laced scent that reminded him of paint thinner.

Beckett hacked loudly, her stomach turning over angrily, and covered her nose with her shirt. Castle used his toe to turn the body over, jumping slightly when he saw the mangled state of the man's head. Kate let out a gasp when she saw the maggot-riddled body wriggling underneath the tattered clothes.

The man's chest heaved and twisted as the bugs _chit-chittered_ under the skin that was stretched too thin over a frame that was far too skinny. His cheeks were sunken in too far for it to be considered healthy. His skull had been concaved like some sort of bowl, though the matter that leaked out of the lacerations wasn't the thick, red color that he would expect, but it also wasn't the sickly grey color of brain matter. Instead, it was a thick, black ooze that looked more like used motor oil than any normal human body fluid. His skin was sticky when Castle reached out to touch it, a sap like substance was oozing from every one of his pours like it was sweat.

"What in the hell is that?" Kate muttered, crouching down to examine the body closer, her shirt still firmly in place over her nose. Castle crouched down as well, his eyes focused on the man's face.

"I'm not sure. He looks like he's well into decomposition, but that doesn't make any sense." He scratched the back of his head before standing again. "He just walked out into the middle of the road. Bodies in decomp don't walk anywhere. What the hell is going on out here?" Kate stood next to him, swallowing down the bile that burned the back of her throat when the wind swept another wave of the stench into her nostrils.

"Well, he certainly smells decomposed. We didn't hit him, and yet his...would-be grey matter is leaking all over the ground here." She stuffed her hands into her pockets and glanced at the furrow in his brow. "Thoughts from the peanut gallery?"

"Trust me. You don't want to hear them. They're a bit...unorthodox." He muttered, his teeth clenching on his knuckle. Kate let out a small chuckle.

"Well, you know, this isn't exactly an orthodox situation, so I'm up for unorthodox." She gestured for him to continue.

"Zombie."

"...I beg your pardon?"

"You said you wanted to hear the unorthodox. So, zombie. You know, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Walking Dead. Reanimated flesh." He pulled a shrug and tried to hide the blush that was creeping up his neck.

"Oh my God. You're such a nerd." She laughed and moved to climb back into the truck. He scoffed and followed her, climbing into the driver's seat, backing up and driving around the body.

"Should we call this in?" He asked, his eyes trained on the rearview mirror and watching the body disappear from sight.

"Oh, sure. Let me grab my coconut phone from the Skipper and we'll get right on that." He shot her a disapproving glare. "What do you intend to 'call it in' on, hero? We've got no signal on the phones, your radio doesn't reach anyone but your big fancy boss in DC, even though I'm guessing it isn't getting any reception either. We're shit outta luck here, Castle. So, let's mosey on down the road, find Ryan and Esposito, and see if they are having any better luck. Hell, Esposito got a call out to you, maybe he found a phone." Castle nodded slowly in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess your right. I don't think he's going anywhere...well...I hope not." He replied, glancing back one last time and hoped to be able to see the body still laying in the middle of the road, bu they'd driven too far.

They drove the last few miles to Marquez's house in silence, the stench of whatever had hung on that man's skin clinging to their clothes and filling the cabin of the truck. Kate wrinkled her nose and sniffed her own jacket cautiously.

"We smell like that guy." She grumbled, stripping off the sport coat and tossing it as far back in the car as she could.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel like it's all over my skin. It's weird. It was like...I don't know, like his skin was leaking tree sap. I've never seen anything like that before. We'll have to see if we can get Lanie to run an autopsy if we can get a call out to her, see what she can find." Kate nodded her agreement, before checking her phone for signal again to no avail. She sighed and tossed the useless piece of junk into the backseat.

"I'm sure that's a really good thing for the mechanics of your phone." He chuckled, glancing over at her to gauge her reaction. She scowled at him a moment before her face broke into a grin.

They continued to drive in companionable silence until they crested another hill and an enormous house came into view, along with the boys' cruiser. Kate let out the breath that she hadn't known that she was holding. Driving through uninhabited woods was creepy enough in itself. However, driving through uninhabited woods in the waning sunlight as the daylight hours slowly slipped away, was horrifying. God forbid, adding a stumbling, staggering, seemingly already dead man that jumped in front of their truck. Kate fiddled absently with her seatbelt until the truck stopped and she practically bolted up the drive way and to the front door of the expansive house.

She pushed open the door that was open for the most part, and drew her gun slowly. The jump of her muscles when she realized that Castle was directly behind her was nothing more than reflex. She would keep telling herself that until she was blue in the face. They moved together, perfectly in sync, through the foyer of the house. A large, gleaming chandelier hung down from the seemingly mile-high ceilings. The entire home was constructed of pine wood, and had a rustic feel that had both of them aching for a weekend of solitude in the hills.

They made their way up the broad staircase, Castle covering their rear and Kate the front. They stalked through the silence of the house toward the only room with light eminating from under the door way. The hushed sound of voices had Kate motioning for Castle to open the door quietly. They opened the door a bit, waited, and slipped silently into the room.

"What the hell are you two idiots doing?" Esposito laughed from where he was seated at the handcarved wooden dining room table. He stood from the chair and crossed to them, clapping Castle and Beckett on the back and leading them further into the room.

"We were looking for you guys, we didn't know if it was you guys in here or one of the stumbling, drooling bags of rot that jumped in front of our car." Castle snapped, reholstering his gun and slumping down into one of the chairs.

"Stumbling, drooling bags of rot?" Ryan quirked an eye brow and glanced at both of them curiously.

"Yeah, some guy jumped in front of the truck on the way up here. He fell in front of us, we didn't even hit him. We got out and he was on the ground. His skull was caved in, but he wasn't really bleeding...per se. It was this weird black ooze that was there. And he smelled. Oh, God, he smelled terrible." Kate seethed, shuddering at the thought of the scent once again.

"He smelled like death, and decay, and...I don't know...something else. It smelled like a chemical. Like a weird paint thinner type smell. And his skin was sticky, like he was leaking tree sap. It was really odd."

"Actually, you guys won't believe this. Come with me." Esposito practically ran down the stairs, the three of them in tow, and bolted down the stairs to the basement, flicking the lights on as he went. "This is what I was telling you we found, Castle." The sound of rattling cages and ear piercing screams shattered the silence as soon as the door opened. Castle noted the sound proof material on the inside of the door and walls. He and Kate stepped slowly down into the basement, and felt their stomachs roll over and vomit bubbled in their throats at the sight.

"Oh my God..."

_**Thoughts? Suggestions? Anyone interested in the new, sci-fi/thriller/horror angle? This is originally where I had intended the direction to go, and I really feel like I should have warned everyone sooner...any way...drop me a review and let me know.**_

_** Much Love, J. Rook**_


	8. Chapter Seven

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

__**Previously in "Situational Control":**

_"He smelled like death, and decay, and...I don't know...something else. It smelled like a chemical. Like a weird paint thinner type smell. And his skin was sticky, like he was leaking tree sap. It was really odd."_

_ "Actually, you guys won't believe this. Come with me." Esposito practically ran down the stairs, the three of them in tow, and bolted down the stairs to the basement, flicking the lights on as he went. "This is what I was telling you we found, Castle." The sound of rattling cages and ear piercing screams shattered the silence as soon as the door opened. Castle noted the sound proof material on the inside of the door and walls. He and Kate stepped slowly down into the basement, and felt their stomachs roll over and vomit bubbled in their throats at the sight._

_ "Oh my God..."_

**And now...**

"Oh my God..." Kate gasped, her hand moving to cover her mouth, the scent of rotten flesh swarming her senses once again. The basement was as expansive as Castle had expected, given the sprawling layout of the house. There was a Navy SEALs flag hanging in the far corner, once again, nothing that he hadn't expected. However, the pile of rotted limbs and cages full of animals howling and screaming at him were different. That was something he hadn't seen before.

"What the hell?" He breathed, walking along the lines of cages, and dodging the paws and claws that were shooting out of the cages. "What is all of this?"

"That's what we've been trying to figure out. Look closer at them, Castle. They're not...normal..." Castle crouched down and squinted into the cages, plucking the Maglight flashlight off his belt and shining it into the cages.

At first glance, the animals looked completely normal. But when he looked closer, he saw that the skin and fur was sloffing of slowly, and the eyes were milky and white. He found that the stench wasn't simply eminating from the pile of limbs, but also from the animals themselves.

The dog in the closest cage snarled and grunted at him, drool dropping from the animal's mouth in large globs onto the floor. Half of the Husky's ear lay in a pool of the same black, congealed substance that had been seeping from the man's head down the road. The last straw that had his stomach churning again was when the dog leaned forward and lapped at the ear before chomping it down and swallowing it hungrily. An ear splitting howl tore from the dog's throat as he threw his head back. The howl was shrill and pained, and was followed by the growling of the animal's stomach.

He stood back to his feet and shook off the wave of nausea that rippled through him. There were a large range of animals caged in the basement, from the large Husky to a small monkey, and even a tiny kitten mewling at them.

"What exactly was going on out here?" Ryan muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets and glancing up and down the row again. A terrifying roar echoed through out the basement, leaving all of their ears ringing and their hands clapped over their ears.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about Tony over there." Esposito hooked a thumb at the cage that was covered in a sheet in the far corner. Castle slowly walked over, his gun clutched in one hand and Beckett close behind him, her hand on his shoulder blade gently in silent warning. He reached out and stripped the sheet off, revealing a stench riddled tiger pacing angrily in the cage.

"Holy shit..." He growled, subconciously wrapping his arm behind him and holding Kate tightly to him protectively. "That's a fucking _tiger_." He said, turning to look at Esposito. "A _dead_ tiger?"

"That's what it looks like, as crazy as it sounds. We're not sure exaclty how he managed to reanimate them, but he did. Whatever is going on out here, your boy had something to do with it."

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain anything that was connected to his case. That doesn't explain the $35,000 deposits into his account, or why he was calling Goodwin for money. And it sure as hell doesn't explain why he was facedown in an alley with a bullet in his brain. None of this makes any God damned sense!" Castle snapped, jumping slightly when the tiger let out another small roar of agitation behind him.

"I know. Why the hell would some military boy be doing 'grow your own mutant pet' experiments in his basement in the middle of no where?" Esposito gave a confused chuckle.

"Espo, how'd you get a call out to Castle? Do you guys have reception on your phones?" Beckett asked taking a subtle step away from the tiger.

"We used the house phone. Neither of our phones have reception, it's like this guy purposely moved into the farest edges of humanity to distance himself. So that this...thing that he's been working on out here wouldn't get caught in the public eye." Esposito absently swatted at a blow fly that was buzzing around after having stripped the flesh from one of the rot adled fingers of the limbs. The animals became restless once again, howling and scratching at their cages.

From upstairs, a racket from the top of the stairs had them all reaching for their guns and scurrying up the staircase. Castle was the first to reached the top and rounded the corner into the kitchen where the front door swung in the light breeze. He motioned for the others to hold their positions. He listened intently, trying to decide exactly where he thought the sound was coming from.

A _snap_ in the living room had his head snapping toward the sound and moving before he even allowed himself a chance to think. He stepped from the granite tile of the kitchen onto the hardwood planks extending into the living room. A figure was hunched over a large mahogehny chest that was positioned in front of the couch like a coffee table, the lid thrown open, as he searched through the chest hurriedly.

"Freeze!" Rick barked, his gun outstretched in front of him. The figure startled and spun to face him. "Hands where I can see them! No sudden movements!" The figure was shadowed, and he couldn't see his face due to the loss of sunlight, but he could see his hands raise. "Good. Now, you're gonna walk real slow out here into the kitchen where I can get a good look at you. We clear." The figure took shaky steps until he emerged into the light of the kitchen, and Rick dropped his gun, confusion blanketing his face.

"Goodwin?" Kate squeaked, raising her eye brow and dropping her gun to her side as well. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I...well...you see..." Goodwin sighed and ran his hands through his hair, slumping down into the chair at the table. "Truth is, I wasn't totally honest with you guys when I came in for my interview."

"Oh, really? I had no idea." Castle muttered sarcastically. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Goodwin. "I suggest you start talking and tell us just what the hell is going on out here. Don't skip the gory details, we already saw your little science project downstairs."

"John and I were partners. We were," He paused to let out a nervous laugh and shook his head. "We were trying to create the perfect super soldier. But it went wrong. We tested out the genetics that we created on the animals in the basement. It killed them, but they...hell, I don't know, man. They _came back to life_. I don't know how the fuck it happened, but it did. And then they started calling and leaving those messages for John. We didn't know what to do."

"What messages? Who was calling you guys, Goodwin?" Beckett asked, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I don't know exactly who they were. They said they worked with the government, and that they'd gotten wind of our little experiment. They wanted in on our research, but John didn't want to let them in on what we were working on. So, John went crazy, started testing on things bigger than just his dog."

"The tiger?" Castle questioned, cracking his neck slightly.

"Well, it was the tiger at first, but then it got worse. Leroy." He sighed, training his eyes on the ground.

"I beg your pardon?" Castle quirked an eyebrow.

"Leroy was our other business partner. John injected him with the genetic and it...it did the same thing to him that it did to those damned animals. He came back. And he was hungry. And he tried to kill the both of use. The animals had done that too, but we figured it was because of their animal nature. Leroy got a hold of the neighbor when he escaped our house. Neighbor had come down to see what the ruckus was all about, and Leroy took the side of his face clean off. Bit his neck. Blood. God, there was so much blood. Killed him within minutes, we figured he must have hit the corotid artery. Leroy took off into the woods and we haven't seen him since. We buried the neighbor in the back yard, but when we went out to check on him, he was just...gone. We figured that it was the same thing that had happened to him as what happened to Leroy."

"So...you created that thing that walked out in front of our truck?" Kate stammered, the bile once again rising in her throat.

"Yes. We didn't mean to, we just wanted to help the country."

"You understand that whatever you guys have done is there reason that your friend is dead? You get that right?" Castle snapped, slamming his fist on the table.

"YES! You think that I don't know what we did? I know that I got my best friend killed!" He snarled, his eyes blood shot and wild.

"Is there any names of the government guys that were calling your friend? Do you think that they would have killed him?"

"I don't think so. We were the only ones that knew what the research consisted of so far. Without us they had no idea, why would they have taken him out? I don't know their names. All they ever did was call and send him empty threats, claiming that they were going to come and get our research." He sighed, throwing his hands up in the air and slumping further down in the chair.

"Okay, we just need to stay calm. We'll check his messages on his answering machine and figure out who they were and what they wanted." Castle stood and began pacing. "In the mean time, your little pet projects downstairs sounded hungry, you might want to go feed them." Goodwin nodded and walked downstairs, defeated and sad.

"Well, what are you guys thinking?" Ryan asked, breaking the silence that filled the room.

"I'm thinking that there's more to this than we think, and we need to get him to talk more." Castle replied, moving toward the answering machine.

"I'm thinking that the zombie apocolypse, which I totally predicted by the way, is happening." The rest of them looked at Esposito angrily. "Think about it! How many cases have we seen in the past few weeks where the victim had been dismembered and, what we thought, was scavenged because they were all on less used jogging trails? They're smarter than people think. They think, they plan. They _hunt_. And it looks like we're their prey." The silence of the group as they all mulled over the possibility was deafening.

The words kept rolling around in their minds.

Zombie. Apocolypse.

And, suddenly, Kate Beckett figured that she would probably give up her right kidney to have her cell phone working. She wanted her dad. She wanted to curl up on the couch, lay her head on his lap, and have him stroke her hair until she fell asleep like when she was sick. But, deep down, she knew that, in some twisted, convoluted, strange way Esposito was right. Whatever those moronic men had created was spreading. And it was only a matter of time before they couldn't stop it...

_**Thoughts? Suggestions? Reactions? Drop me a review and let me know.**_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	9. Chapter Eight

_** Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

__"I think its a ridiculous idea that this is a 'zombie apocolypse'." Beckett muttered, running her fingers through her curly hair. "I just think that we're overreacting to this whole situation. We need to take a breath and figure out what the hell we're going to do next."

"Well, I think you should at least entertain the idea." Esposito muttered in response, toying with the fray at the bottom of his shirt.

"Espo, it's not even an idea worth entertaining. There are no such thing as zombies."

"How do you explain what we saw on the way in here?" Castle asked, leaning back in his chair and sipping the paper cup of coffee that he'd brought in with him from the truck.

"I...he was..." She sighed and dropped her head into her hands. "I got nothing. That was just plain freaky."

"We should call the Captain and see what's going on back in town. Tell everyone about what we've found out here and that we've got Goodwin with us." Ryan stated, taking a seat next to everyone after having paced the kitchen more times than he could count. Beckett grabbed the phone from where it was sitting in its cradle and dialed the familiar number to the station.

The dial tone, however, was nonexsistant and instead was replaced with the deafening silence of a dead line. She hung the phone up quickly and lifted it to her ear again, but there was no change, the silence greeting her ominously once again.

"Um...guys?" She held the reciever up for some reason that wasn't completely clear, even to her. "The line is dead."

"What? We just called you guys on it a couple hours ago, how is it dead?" Esposito sprung from his chair and lifted the reciever to his own ear, only to get the same results as Beckett. "She's right, its dead."

"Well...that's weird." Ryan quirked an eye brow and moved to the living room, lifting the cordless reciever and holding it to his ear. He cursed under his breath when he found that the silence came from that phone as well. "This one is dead too."

"So...what do we do now?" Esposito sighed.

"Well, you guys could stay here to keep an eye on Goodwin, while Kate and I head back to town to get a call out to the guys at the precinct."

"Sounds like a plan. But what are we going to do if something goes wrong? We won't be able to get in contact with each other." Ryan replied.

"I've got walkie talkies in the car. 30 mile range. Should be at least able to make it to town." The group of them walked out to the truck, leaving Esposito to keep an eye on Goodwin.

They had made it halfway to the truck when a shuffling along the edge of the treeline caught their attention. The three of them shifted towards the noise, their weapons drawn, but in the low light it was difficult to see what the source of the noise was. Castle slowly drew the Maglight again and clenched it in his hand, steadying his weapon on his forearm.

He clicked the switch on and aimed the beam into the woods. The light fell on dead eyes and a face that was more stripped of flesh than not. His heart jumped into his throat as the figure stepped out of the woods and staggered closer to them. A low growl came from his (the lack of hair and figure could only assure them that it was once a man...right?) throat and his jaw snapped wildly like a rabid dog leaning in to eat a piece of meat.

"Truck! Now! Esposito, shut the door!" Castle howled, bolting towards the truck. The three of them piled into the vehicle and slammed the doors, locking them quickly. They saw the door to the house slam shut and they all let out the breath they hadn't know that they were holding.

Castle jammed the key into the ignition and turned it hurriedly. His stomach dropped when there was no 'whur' of the engine roaring to life, but instead a hollow, empty 'click' of the engine failing to turn over.

"What was that?" Beckett panted, leaning forward over the back seat and staring at Castle's shocked face.

"That was the sound of us being completely fucked..." He sighed, dropping his head against the back of the seat. "The truck won't start. I don't know what's wrong with it, the mechanic back in DC serviced it just before I left, he said that everything was fine. We just _bought_ this thing two months ago, brand new off the lot. It shouldn't be happening!" He slammed his hand against the steering wheel, a spark of pain shooting up through his forearm at the contact.

"Wh...what do you mean the truck won't start?" Ryan snarled, curling his fingers into a fist. "What the fuck did you plan on doing, Castle? Taking off down the road like Bo God damned Duke and leaving Esposito and Goodwin to fend for themselves against that..._thing_?" As if on cue, the man outside pounded his fist on the glass of the driver's side window. Something between a yell and a roar shook the glass, and drew a shriek from Beckett, her hand tightening on Castle's arm.

"What the hell are we supposed to do now, Castle?" Beckett snapped, her nails digging into his bicep through his sleeve.

"The passenger's side. We all get out that door and make a break for the back door. Hopefully Esposito hasn't locked it. This thing doesn't look like it can move very fast, and hopefully Esposito didn't lock the back door."

"'Hopefully' and 'doesn't look like'? _That's_ what we're basing something that could potentially cost us our lives on? That's a bit of a long shot don't you think?" Ryan scoffed, jumping as the man slammed his hands on the window again, the glass splintering under his bruised and bloated fists. Thick, black fluid streamed down the cracked glass from where the shards had embedded themselves into what was left of his skin.

"Well, it doesn't look like we have much of a choice now, does it?" Castle snarled, gesturing to the window where the man had begun banging his head repeatedly against the glass. The three of them took a deep breath, and bolted from the truck.

They'd almost made it around the side of the house when Castle's boots slipped on the wet moss that seemed to surround the entire house. The air hissed from his lungs as his chest connected with the solid ground. He saw stars when his head connected with a jagged rock that was sticking out of the wet muck.

Ryan and Beckett dragged him to his feet and he vaguely heard their pleas to run through the fog of his probable concussion. The shuffling behind them got closer and it registered that he needed to move or he was in some serious trouble.

He had just begun to run with them, when a cold, dead arm slung around his waist and tried to hold him in place. A searing, burning pain scorched through his lower back as ragged, overgrown nails tore through the flesh. He let out a scream, but shook the man off of him and they bolted to the back door.

Beckett let out a sob of relief when the knob turned easily and they all fell into the kitchen in a heap of scrambling limbs. Esposito slammed the door behind them just in time to have the rotted hand connect with the thick Oak of the door. He bolted the locks and moved to slide the heavy kitchen table in front of the door.

The scrape of the couch moving across the floor echoed through out the house as Goodwin moved it in front of the front door. Another chorus of groans came from outside the door. Ryan flicked on the porch light and fell back into the middle of the floor, his hands catching him and pulling him backwards.

"Holy shit..." He muttered. "There's...there's more of them out there..." He stammered, pointing wildly at the window. The rest of them looked out and, sure enough, there was a bunch of the drooling, staggering people edging towards the house.

"God damn it." Castle snapped, turning and letting his fist connect with Goodwin's jaw. The smaller man went sprawling across the floor before staggering to his feet again.

"What the _hell_, Castle?" Beckett barked, pushing his shoulder.

"This bastard lied to us! So much for just Leroy, Goodwin! Who else did you do this to?"

"Just Leroy! I promise! I told you, it's contagious. We found that out when he attacked the neighbor! If they bite you, you become them!" He seethed, raising his hands and gesturing at the window.

"We need to board these up, guys. They're figuring out that they're there and it's only a matter of time before they get in." Esposito whispered, peeking out the window. "So, if you two ladies are done fighting, we should probably do something about this!"

The two men practically growled at one another, but they moved quickly to cover all of the windows on the lower floor. They used anything that they could find, utilizing everything from a coffee table to the book shelves that lined the den. Once they were confident that they'd covered all of their bases, they convened in the kitchen to go over their supplies.

"So, we've got all of our guns. Two extra magazines each. What ever food is left in the house, water and no phone to get any help out here. The truck won't start, and we don't know where keys for any of Marquez's vehicles are. Unless you have some idea, Goodwin?"

"No, John was always very secretive about stuff like that. I assumed that the military had made him paranoid." He shook his head while he spoke, his floppy brown hair falling into his cloudy grey eyes.

"It'll do that to you. So, we'll have to at least wait out the night here, there's no way that I'm going to make any moves tonight with all of those dead heads chasing after me." He swayed slightly on his feet, until Kate wrapped her hand around his back and lowered him to the ground. "And I'm pretty sure that damned rock gave me a concussion." He chuckled, though the laughter waivered precariously. Kate pulled her hand away, but it was shaking and coated with sticky, warm, black-red blood. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Castle..." She breathed, showing him the blood on her hand.

"Yeah, I think his nails dug my back when he grabbed me." Castle nodded, but his breathing sounded erratic, and thick sweat had beaded along his forehead. Kate moved him forward and lifted his shirt, but she dropped it as quickly as if it had burned a hole in her finger tips and backed away from him on her hands and knees, curling into Ryan's side and letting out a silent sob.

"C-Castle," She stammered between gasps for air. "You...he didn't scratch you." Castle quirked a brow curiously.

"What? What do you mean?" He whispered, suddenly finding it hard to summon the words.

"He didn't scratch you." She stood and helped him to his feet before leading him into the bathroom. She lifted his shirt so that he could look at the wound that was gouged out of his tanned skin. Castle let out a choked cry himself. "He bit you."

_**Thoughts? Reactions? Suggestions? Drop me a review and let me know.**_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	10. Chapter Nine

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

___Previously in _Situational Control_:_

_ "C-Castle," She stammered between gasps for air. "You...he didn't scratch you." Castle quirked a brow curiously. _

_ "What? What do you mean?" He whispered, suddenly finding it hard to summon the words._

_ "He didn't scratch you." She stood and helped him to his feet before leading him into the bathroom. She lifted his shirt so that he could look at the wound that was gouged out of his tanned skin. Castle let out a choked cry himself. "He bit you."_

_ And now..._

"He b...bit me?" He stammered, tearing the shirt over his head and spining so that he could see it in the bathroom mirror more accurately. Sure enough, there was a clearly visible bite mark deep into the flesh of his back. The skin around the bite was already darkened to a deep purple color, and an bright, angry red color. The skin was scorching hot when he pressed his shaking fingers to it. "Holy shit..." He breathed pulling his fingers away and looking at them, blood covering his fingertips.

"Castle, what are we going to do?" Beckett whispered, her hand touching his bicep gently. She barely noticed that his skin had a film of grimy sweat covering it. He thought a moment before reaching to the waist band of his pants and handed her his service weapon.

"You've got to shoot me, Kate." He whispered softly, leaning in so that she was the only one that could hear him.

"I...no. No!" She barked, stepping away from him as if what he'd said had burned her. "I can't!" Castle sighed and turned to everyone else.

"Can you give us a minute?" The others nodded cautiously and stepped out, shutting the bathroom door behind them. "Kate...you've got to. You know what's going to happen to me if you don't. I don't want to become one of them, Kate. I can't. That provides the oppourtunity for me to end up hurting you and I don't want that." He whispered, his hands falling on the sides of her face and forcing her to look at him.

"Cas...Rick. I _can't_. I'm not going to kill you. There's no way. Maybe it won't happen to you. Maybe you'll be different, you never know." She replied, her shaky arms slipping around his shoulders, holding him tightly to her. They stayed that way for longer than either of them had anticipated, her face buried into the crook of his neck, and his nose nuzzled into her hair. It was only when Castle inhaled a deep breath, and the scent of metallic blood filled his nose that he allowed himself to pull away. He took another deep breath, trying to pinpoint the location of the scent.

"Do you smell that?" He scowled, glancing around the room and wrinkling his nose.

"Smell what? I don't smell anything, Rick."

"It smells like...pennies. It's a metallic smell...blood, maybe..." He spoke in broken half sentences, not really able to focus on one particular thought. Kate furrowed her brow as she watched him, his eyes darting around the room like a caged animal. She gasped when she caught his gaze, the normal intense blue was flecked with bright yellow.

"Rick...I think it's happening. We need to get you out there so we can figure something out." She whispered and he nodded slowly, following her out of the bathroom and into the living room. The windows rattled and quaked with the slow, methodic knocks of the...things that were outside the door. "Goodwin, we've got a problem." She snarled, keeping a wary eye on Castle, who was bracing himself against the wall unsteadily.

"What's going on?" He stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Castle. His chest was heaving, his breathing ragged and unsteady, and a sound that was suspiciously close to a growl eminated from low in his throat. "Oh, shit...it's started. Come with me, we need to move quickly." He bolted back down the stairs, everyone else hot on his heels, and crossed the dingy basement to a section of wall. He pressed the wall and a panel slid open, revealing a bright white room with a metal chair welded to the floor in the middle of the room. Black, leather straps hung from the arms and legs of the chair, and across the room there was a large window and door leading into a small observation room.

"What the hell is this?" Castle heaved, his words short and ragged.

"This is the oservation chamber. We needed a way to contain and regulate the experiments. Captain Castle, we're going to need you to sit in this chair." Castle nodded and slid into the cold, metal chair and allowing Goodwin to strap him into the chair. His head begun spinning, turning the room on its ear. His stomach rebelled angrily and he turned his head away, spilling the contents of his stomach onto the cement floor. "That's how it starts. You can't keep anything down but you can't quell the hunger that seems like its eating you alive." As if on cue, his stomach twisted in pain, and he called out in agony, leaning forward as much as the chair would allow. His eyes screwed shut in pain as the dagger-like claws of a scream tore at the back of his throat.

Beckett covered her face with her hands, unable to watch the scene unfolding before her, but when she pulled her hands away and Castle allowed his eyes to open, the sinnister laugh that bubbled out of his throat was enough to have her stomach tied in knots. His eyes had morphed completely yellow, reminding her of the colored contacts some of the perps that she'd arrested had been wearing. He pulled at the abrasive leather straps, his jaw snapping like a rabid dog at all of them. His teeth sunk into his tongue and blood dripped off the curve of his chin onto his shirt in seemingly slow motion. They all looked at him in horror.

Captain Richard Castle had become a monster.

_**I'm sorry that this is so short, but I really feel like a bum for not updating this sooner. Hopefully I will be able to update this sooner, and with longer updates. For now, this is what I got. Thoughts? Reactions? Suggestions? Drop me a review and let me know. **_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	11. Chapter Ten

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

__"What the hell is going on here, Goodwin?" Beckett snapped, watching the monster that had once been Richard Castle from behind the one way glass of the observation room. "I thought that you said that this only happened after they'd died?"

"I don't know! I have no idea what's going on with him! We've never had any test subjects that have turned before they died. This is something completely new to all of us." Goodwin replied, his voice shaky and uneven. "This is...this is very strange." He muttered, lifting a piece of paper that was rolling out of a small machine. It was covered in lines that reminded Kate of seismic readouts from earthquakes.

"What?" She whispered, leaning over his sholder and looking at the paper.

"These are his brain waves. That chair had electrodes that attach themselves to his head and monitor what is happening in his brain. In all of our other test subjects, the brain shut down completely. The synapsis stopped firing and the brain activity ceased completely. Then, hours, or even days later, the brain stem would reanimate. Not the entire brain, but just the stem. The rest of the brain was still dead, which is why nothing that made them..._them_ remained. All of their memories and their thoughts and their...personality...had vanished. But this...with Castle, it's different. All of his brain in still firing and he has retained everything."

"Why? What's different about him? And, if that's true, why did he snap at us like some sort of dog?"

"Because, this is how the first phase of our experiment was always _supposed_ to go." Goodwin whispered, his eyes trained on where Castle sat. The man had stopped struggling against the restraints, and had taken to looking around the room instead. His eyes stopped on the one way window, and he tilted his ear towards the window, as if he was listening. Kate felt a chill run through her veins as she watched the gesture that looked more like something that she'd have seen on the Animal Planet than something she was watching her partner do.

"Can...can he hear us?" She whispered, not taking her eyes off of Castle as she spoke to Goodwin.

"Uh, well, yes, in theory...the experiment was supposed to create the perfect super soldier. That means that everything about them is perfect. His hearing would, ideally, be ten times the strength of any of ours. His vision would be flawless. His muscles would remend themselves if they get injured, his thought process would work twice as fast as ours. His reflexes would be superhuman. And as for speed and stamina, there would be no limit to how fast and how far he could move. There would be no competition in the world that could stand up to the US military. So, I'm guessing that yes, he can hear you. But, you could always ask him." Goodwin replied, gesturing to the window.

"Castle?" She whispered softly, making sure that it would be impossible for anyone else to hear her. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes." He replied instantaniously. His eyes, those horrifyingly yellow orbs that were set in the deep sockets, burned into hers straight through the one way glass. He tracked her as she moved from one side of the mirror to the other, his head moving slowly and methodically. "Beckett, I think it's obvious I can see you. You can stop moving back and forth any time now." He chuckled. He would have almost sounded like himself, were it not for the low, gravely timbre of his voice. "You guys can always come on out here, you know? Makes it less weird that I can hear what you're saying if I can see you."

They all glanced nervously at each other before shuffling out into the observation room and crowding around him, at a safe distance away however. They stared at him, not exactly sure how he would react to having them all so close.

"How are you doing, Captain Castle?" Goodwin was the first to break the icy silence.

"I feel...amazing. Now that, you know, the whole fucked up thoughts thing has passed..." He shuddered to himself and glanced at Beckett. "I'm sorry that I snapped at you, Kate...that wasn't," He paused and sucked in a deep breath. "I wasn't myself."

"Castle, I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but you don't exactly seem like yourself now." She chuckled, watching his eyes flick to the side and then back to her face. "You look...you look the same but I know you're not."

"I know. I'm better. I feel stronger. More alive. This is incredible. I thought that I was supposed to die, but Goodwin, you were saying something about this being how your experiment was supposed to go?"

"Yes, when we began planning out the tests this is how it was supposed to go. We would inject the serum into the subjects system, and they would go through a brief spell like the one you experienced. Lunacy, sporadic thoughts, savage responses. And then, they would even out into what would be much like their old personality, but they're irrevocably changed. They're much better than they ever thought possible."

"What did you guys find out about control impulses? Would it even be safe for these subjects to be released into the military? These men that went through periods of lunacy so bad that they want to _kill_ the people that are closest to them, you wanted to give them guns and send them into the field? How did you even _think_ that that was going to be a good idea. One wrong move, one wrong sequence of stimuli and they snap, and murder all of their squad mates, suck all of their bone marrow dry and not even feel bad. Are you fucking kidding me?" Castle snapped, his right arm reflexively snapping forward against the restraint.

"Castle, I assure you, we were going to be selecting the strongest of will power and strength for our testing. This is not something that would be suitable for the faint of heart, which is why you've come through it. You're the man that we were looking for, Castle."

"If I'm such a strong, and amazing man, why don't you let me out of this damned chair. Let me out so I can figure out exactly what it is that I can do and we can get the fuck out of this house." His stomach growled loudly and he winced at the acid bubbling in it. "And so I can get something to eat. I'm hungry as hell."

"I figured you might be." Goodwin nodded and ducked out of the room, grabbing something from the pile that had turned all of their stomachs when they'd first canvassed the room. He came back, a black-purple limb clutched in his hand and unhooked the restraints on Castle's arms.

He tossed him the limb and Kate had to look away when he began ripping bits of the rotted flesh from the bone. The sick, wet sound of the muscle and tendons being shredded was nothing compared to when his teeth began crushing the bone. The crunch echoed through out the room and Kate watched Esposito's face pale until it was nearly as light as Ryan's.

"There's a trash can in the corner over there, Detective Epsosito." Goodwin chuckled as he leaned down to unhook the restraints around his legs and remove the electrodes form his head. Esposito bolted across the room and heaved the contents of his stomach into the small trashcan. A thin film of nausea still coated the back of his throat as he stumbled back over to the group. He drew the back of his hand across his mouth slowly.

"Sorry, guys." He mumbled.

"Not to worry, Esposito. It takes a while to get used to it." Goodwin chuckled. "Of course, it was much easier when we were just working with animals." Castle stood, using his fingernail to pick a piece of rogue skin that was hanging from his teeth.

"Alright, enough chit chat. Lets go see what we can do about this pest problem we've got going on outside." He smirked, hooking a thumb towards the stairs. He gave a mildly amused laugh at Ryan when he jumped nearly a foot as he brushed past him up the stairs.

The second floor of the house seemed different to him this time around. The colors were brighter, the sounds more clear, and the smells more vivid. He hefted the crowbar that was leaning against the door frame.

"Okay, here's the plan. You kids stay here, I'm going to go take care of business." He sighed and held the crowbar on his shoulder. He took in another deep breath and stepped out the front door, chosing to ignore the pleading look in Kate's eyes as their gazes met before he stepped out into the night.

The smell of musty mulch and wet leaves hit him first, followed almost immediately by the overwhelming smell of rotted flesh. His stomach growled again as a hunger pang scorched through him, but he pushed it away and stepped towards the side of the house.

He wasn't surprised when he found the rest of the...things that had been following them clawing at the boarded windows on that side. Goodwin _had_ mentioned that they weren't firing on all cylinders in the brain department anymore.

"Well, hey there fellas." He called out, catching all of their attention. They turned and began lumbering towards them. "You guys can't leave without your parting gifts." He swung the crowbar as hard as he could, and it sliced through the rotted flesh of the first one's neck, sending his head rolling into the mud and leaves.

Before he could even realize what had happened, he was standing in the middle of a pile of bodies, his face splattered with rapidly drying blood and the crowbar loosely hanging in his grip. His chest heaved as he attempted to calm himself down and moved towards the door once again. He knocked lightly until Goodwin's face became clear in the cracked open door.

"We're good to go." He said calmly, gesturing towards the SUV. They all stared at him slack jawed. "Yeah, I know that I took care of the immediate issue, but I wouldn't suggest hanging around too long...you never know when the other hoarde is going to get here." He replied.

"Other...other hoarde?" Kate stammered, her eyes wide. Castle inhaled deeply through his nose, making a show of smelling the air.

"Yes, there's another hoarde of those...things in the area. I smell them. They're seven, maybe eight miles away. We need to move. Get to the city. See what is going on there."

"What do you mean 'what's going on there'? Castle, we were just in the city this morning."

"I don't think that it's what you expect anymore, Kate. They're on the move and your kind can't stop them." He replied, ushering them all into the SUV and making sure that everyone was buckled before he slid popped the hood. There was a loud 'pop' as he shifted some of the mechanical elements inside the engine and replaced them with something that he'd retrieved out of the boys' cruiser. He slid into the driver's seat and turned the key. Everyone held their breath until the engine roared to life, causing them to all heave a collective sigh of relief.

"How'd you do that, Castle?" Esposito asked in disbelief.

"I'm really not sure, Espo. It was...it's weird. Things look different to me." He replied as he slammed the truck in drive and tore out of the driveway. "I see...heat signatures. I smell things that I never thought had a smell. I can tell when someone had touched something, because there are traces of their body heat left on it and it looks like someone rubbed their hands on it after eating Cheetos. They...glow, almost." He shook his head, not completely sure how to explain it himself.

"That's insane. Awesome, but insane." Esposito chuckled.

"So, this other hoarde...what do you think they're doing?" Beckett asked the question that everyone had been avoiding.

"I don't 'think' about what they're doing. I _know_." He sighed and looked over to the passenger's seat, closing his hand around hers and lacing their fingers comfortingly. "They're building an army."

_**So...thoughts? Suggestions? Reactions? Drop me a review and let me know**_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	12. Chapter Eleven

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

___Previously in "Situational Control":_

_ "So, this other hoarde...what do you think they're doing?" Beckett asked the question that everyone had been avoiding._

_ "I don't 'think' about what they're doing. I know." He sighed and looked over to the passenger's seat, closing his hand around hers and lacing their fingers comfortingly. "They're building an army."_

The drive to the city was long and nearly silent, the air in the SUV laden with unspoken apprehension. Rick stared directly out the windshield, his brow furrowed in concentration. He hadn't told them of the churning in the pit of his stomach, the part of his mentality that craved warm blood to be flowing over his tongue, and bones crunching between his teeth.

The rotted, dead flesh of that bloated limb Goodwin had given him had done nothing to quell the vicious hunger. It seemed that he could do nothing to get rid of it, and the thought of anything other than raw meat seemed to make him physically ill. He wasn't completely used to the new senses that he'd been endowed.

The trees along the horizon were outlined in a faint, orange tinge as they swayed with the light breeze. Among the branches, he watched the outlines of small animals hopping from limb to limb, tracking their heat signatures. He could hear the steady _thump-thump_ of every heart beat within a mile radius thrumming clearly, but it wasn't muddled. He could distinguish each of them with an ease that he hadn't thought possible.

And the scents, good God, the scents were enough to drive anyone insane. Fear. That was the big one, the sickly sour scent of curdled milk mixed with cold sweat and urine. Then there was the other scents that plagued him, sweat, the scents of the outside world. Blood coursing through their veins. _Flesh_. Their skin had a scent to it, much like the effect T-Bone steaks had once had on him.

His stomach growled again, the sound completely audible in the silence of the vehicle, but no one said anything, chosing to ignore the question that hung in the back of all of their minds. He was sure that would go well.

_Hey, Castle, I've noticed that you're hungry. What'cha want to eat?_

_ Oh, you know, maybe a little bit of Ryan's arm. And I had my eye on that plump muscle situated on the back of Esposito's arm. Good Lord, don't even get me started on all of the things I want to do with the curve of muscle and taught flesh on the curve of Kate's ass..._

Yeah. That wasn't a conversation he intended on having any time soon. He steered the SUV onto the highway and accelerated until he reached ninty miles an hour. His body seemed to be tuned into every little switch in the road, like his mind was in overdrive.

The engine roared as he allowed his mind to wander, visions of pale flesh and clumps of hair being torn from bleached white bones and fountains of steaming blood dribbling off of his fingers filling his mind. He must have lost track of time because when he focused on the road once again, he was slamming on the brakes to avoid hitting rows of cars that had seemingly just...stopped. The cars were askew in a way that told him they'd all skidding to a stop much like he had.

He threw his seatbelt off and hopped out of the truck, ignoring the screams from the rest of the team to stay put. He pulled the gun from his holster and approached the first car, the smell of something he couldn't quite place filling his nose deliciously and causing his stomach to escalate from growling to roaring. He shook off the hunger and kept moving.

The sight that he found shocked him and had a wave of saliva rolling around his tongue. The man was slumped over the steering wheel, his air bag deployed and billowed around him, but there was something else. Something much more sinister. A plum of blood was splattered across the air bag, but even that wasn't the part that surprised him.

When he rolled the body back into the seat, he found the flap that was once the man's face hanging forward and revealing blotchy white bone. The muscles and tendons had completely been stripped clean. He surveyed the rest of the body and found similar marks all over his skin.

He turned back to the SUV and motioned for the others. They all piled out and moved towards the car slowly, their body oozing that sour fear smell that made his stomach roll over. He swallowed down the bile that had risen as they grew closer. Kate gasped and covered her mouth when she caught sight of the body. He couldn't say that he blamed her. Sure, they were homicide detectives and had seen more death in a week than most people saw in a lifetime, but it was a scene that would have churned his stomach the day before. Unfortunately for him, the scene no longer did anything but make him hungry.

"It looks like they've already gotten here." He said, his voice low and gravely again. "We've got to keep moving before they get wind of us being here."

"How would they know if they're moving ahead of us?" Kate asked, quirking an eyebrow and overtly averting her eyes from the body in front of her. The chuckle that rumbled through his chest was low and more sadistic than he'd thought himself capable of.

"Trust me. They'll know. You guys _wreak_." He bit back another laugh as Esposito attempted to discreetly smell his shirt. "Not what I meant, Esposito. I mean that you guys smell like fear."

"Fear doesn't have a smell." Esposito scoffed. "That's just some rumor...isn't it?"

"No. No it's not. There is this disguisting...sour smell that will make you want to throw up." He growled, shivering at the thought and the scent that still plagued his senses. "We need to get moving." He trotted back to the truck and pulled his gun from the glove box and the rest of his ammo, slipping it into the pockets of his cargo tactical pants. A drop of sweat beaded off of the end of his nose as he moved to the trunk and pulled the pump shotgun and shells out. He growled low in his throat, his body seeming to be ten degrees too hot and tore his shirt off, tossing it into the back of the truck. The thin, thread bare tank top left him much cooler and he let out a sigh of relief when the sweat began to dry on his skin.

He started walking towards the others, tossing a gun that he'd grabbed out of the truck to each of the boys. Ryan and Esposito checked the safety on their guns berfore tucking them into their waistbands. Castle turned to Goodwin and extended another pistol.

"You ever use one of these?" He asked the man who's face was still pale white as he stared at the body.

"I...yeah. We shot target practice at the house when we took breaks from research in case...well, to be honest, in case the Feds showed up." He chuckled, gesturing to Castle with the gun, causing Castle's hand to slap the barrel away and growl at him menacingly.

"I'm surprised you two didn't _kill_ each other in the process. Barrel to the ground. Don't fucking point it at anyone, you dumb shit." He snarled, his muscles tensing and rippling wildly as if he was ready to pounce on the other man. Kate's hand on his shoulder was enough to break his fiery gaze that was burning through Goodwin.

He spun on his heel and had Beckett pinned against the truck in less than a second, his teeth scraping over the prominent tendons of her neck, her salty beads of sweat absorbing onto his tongue. He stopped himself just short of breaking skin and pressed her more roughly against the solid metal door, his knee sliding between hers.

He couldn't be positive whether the growl came from his throat or hers, but it was low, and primitive, and enough to have his heart pounding nearly out of his chest.

When he finally regained his bearings, he pulled away as if he'd been burned. He stammered to try to find the words to apologize for the outburst, but when he saw her pupils blown black with desire, he couldn't seem to find the will to feel sorry for the action. He cleared his throat, ignoring the stunned gazes from everyone and started walking towards the city, dodging cars and hoping that they'd followed.

They all walked in silence, the others giving a valient effort to keep up with Castle, but his enhanced speed was making it difficult. Of course, it's not that they were too upset about the fact. The difference in speeds allowed them to maintain a buffer of space between themselves and him. They had started to stink even more than he'd thought possible, causing him to crinkle his nose in horror. They feared him. His friends feared him.

"What the hell was that about back there?" Esposito whispered, obviously having forgotten Rick's enhanced hearing.

"I don't know. I think it's a side effect of the transformation. All of this is new to me since none of our experiments got to this point." Goodwin sighed.

"I think it's stress. I mean, come on, think about it. All of a sudden he's eating dead arms, and trying to save the world from what is, for lack of a better explination, a zombie apocolypse. You've got to give him a break." This time it was Kate's voice that he heard. They all made his blood boil and churn in his veins. He turned to face them, causing the group to stop dead in their tracks.

"Beckett, can I speak with you for a moment?" He asked, keeping his voice low and calm. She walked over to him slowly, her motions subdued and much too obviously attempting to hide her fear.

"What's up?" She asked quietly when she finally reached him. He glanced at the rest of them over the top of their head before turning back to her. He ghosted his fingers over the purpling bruise on the curve of her neck.

"I'm sorry, I honestly don't know what came over me. I don't want you to have to be afraid of me, Kate." He whispered, his eerie yellow eyes searching hers. She yearned to have his icy blue eyes looking back at her. She gave him a subtle nod of acceptance.

"You don't have to worry, Rick. I understand that you're going through a lot with all of this. And I'm sure everyone else gets it too, they're just...stressed." She replied, forcing a smile. He stared at her a moment before motioning for the rest of the team to follow. They slowly crowded around them.

"We're about two mintues from being in the city." He sucked in a deep breath. "We need to find a safe house until the sun comes up. That should be in a few hours, but as of right now, none of you are safe in the dark. You can't see anything. They can."

"How do you know that?" Esposito asked, earning him a sarcastic look from everyone.

"Because I can see in the dark. Now, lets get moving. They're on the hunt. Smells like outskirts of town, so we need to be on alert. Guns ready, safety off. We're going in." He muttered and pulled his side arm, moving quickly and quietly towards the outlines of the buildings that loomed ominously in front of them.

They moved quickly down the rest of the off ramp until they reached the woven streets of down town New York City. Rick had to admit that it was a bit disconcerting to see the city that he'd always thought of as a vibrant, lively place so utterly and completely deserted. Cars had buried themselves in street signs and store fronts, crumping with the fenders and doors of other vehicles.

All across the sidewalks, glass shimmered in the faint moon light, and the street lights flickered before clicking off completely. Were it not for the situation that they were in, he would have made a comment about the alternating light outages being as cliched as someone hiding in the closet in a horror movie.

They moved in synchronized steps, each of them covering a sector of the street, with Castle moving on point, his gun extended in front of him. Frankly, it reminded him of all of the training exercises that he and his squad mates had faced during their BUD/S training in Coranado.

The smell of blood may as well have been dripping off of the walls of all the buildings, it was so thick in the air. The scent clouded his head as he weaved through piles of bodies, ignoring that damned gurgle in his stomach, and headed towards the next intersection. He held up his hand, signaling for them to stop when he saw movement amongst the crumbled cars.

"Contact." He whispered, cautious to consider the enhanced hearing. "Wait here." He slid the gun into its holster, removed the Kabar combat knife from its sheath and quietly jogged towards the staggering figure. The blade slid through his neck like a hot knife through butter. The body spasmed a moment before falling to the ground. Castle hacked a large chunk of flesh from the body and wolfed it down, almost moaning when it hit the burning acid in his stomach. He drew his hand across his mouth, getting rid of the blood, and moved back to the group.

"Nice work, Captain." Goodwin grinned, obviously basking in a bit of selfpride having seen his project in action. Castle nodded his thanks.

"Okay, we've got a few buildings up ahead, don't seem to have any damage to them. We need to move fast and fortify the entrances." He jogged towards the closest of the buildings, everyone hot on his heels, and held the door open for them. They all bolted through the door and nearly sobbed in relief when Castle slammed the door and botled it shut. They gathered everything that they could to board that door shut and the back door.

It was only then that they took a survey of the store that they had chosen. Ryan was the first to start laughing, more out of relief than actual humor, when he realized that they were in the middle of a supermart. The shelves were completely stocked and it was only then they realized exactly how hungry they were. They began rummaging the shelves, looking for something to eat, while Castle moved to the supplies section of the store and began gathering essentials.

He smelled Kate coming before she had rounded the corner into the aisle where he was stuffing a camping bag.

"Hey." She whispered, leaning against the shelf and nibbling on the bag of M&Ms that was clutched in her fingers as if were gold.

"Hey." He replied, standing and moving in front of her. She vaguely noticed that he had a new more...primitive scent to him that had her pulse racing. Or perhaps it was the adrenaline that he suddenly filled her with. "Listen, I know that I haven't really been...accomadating to all of this, but I really don't know what I'm supposed to do...I'm out of my element here Kate, and it scares the shit outta me." He let out a soft chuckle.

"I know." She replied, framing his face with her hands. "Believe me, I _know_. But we'll get through this, okay? Everything will work out in the end. I promise." She smiled and, much to his surprise, pressed her lips to his softly. He let out a quiet sigh and leaned into the kiss, pulling her closer. She smiled and pulled away, resting her forehead against his, listening to his breathing even back out.

"You should go get something else to eat, Kate." He whispered, his voice tinged with warmth and care it had that morning. "I'm going to keep gathering supplies." He gestured to the shelves and continued rooting through them.

"You're not hungry?" She asked, immediately regretting the question when she saw the rigid lines of his muscles tighten under the flimsy tank top.

"Yes. I am. But I'll figure something out later. You guys get some food and get some sleep. I'll keep watch we head out at first light." Kate opened her mouth to question him about his need for sleep, but the look that he shot her told her to forget it.

"Rick?" She asked quietly?

"Hmm?"

"I'm really glad you didn't die today." She smiled and walked back towards the rest of the group. He couldn't seem to wipe the dopey smirk off his face as he watched her walk away. He shook his head and went back to cataloging supplies. He didn't know what to expect with these...things. But he sure knew that they were in for one hell of a fight. And he also knew that he had to get them out alive.

He was going to get Kate home alive if it was the last thing he did.

_**So...thoughts? Comments? Reactions? Suggestions? Drop me a review and let me know.**_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	13. Chapter Twelve

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions. There is a reference to Lost in here, and that belongs to Damn Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.**_

_ Previously in "Situational Control":_

_ "Rick?" She asked quietly?_

_ "Hmm?"_

_ "I'm really glad you didn't die today." She smiled and walked back towards the rest of the group. He couldn't seem to wipe the dopey smirk off his face as he watched her walk away. He shook his head and went back to cataloging supplies. He didn't know what to expect with these...things. But he sure knew that they were in for one hell of a fight. And he also knew that he had to get them out alive. _

_ He was going to get Kate home alive if it was the last thing he did._

It was nearing two in the morning when Rick heard the noise outside the building. He jumped from his position on the lawn chair that he'd unfolded and moved towards the door cautiously, his gun extended in front of him. He moved enough of the barricade to see you the window of the door.

There were a couple dozen or so of them. Like his kind, but not quite the same. They didn't have the same brain function that he had. That's what Goodwin had said. They didn't retain their personality, they morphed into hungry monsters that had only one purpose in life...well...he couldn't really consider it 'life' per se. They were dead. Undead. Living dead. That was an interesting concept...

They rooted through the dumpsters in the front of the store, searching for something, anything, to eat. His stomach growled and reminded him that he still had not found anything to eat yet, and he was painfully hungry. He heaved a sigh and set about finding something, anything, that sounded the least bit suitable.

He walked almost soundlessly through the store until he reached the meat section. He leaned over the cool glass of the display case and lifted one of the larger steaks, holding it to his nose and inhaling the sickly sweet smell of the blood that pooled in the corners of the packaging. He unwrapped the package with shaking fingers and pulled the slab of meat away from the styrofoam backing and lifted it to his mouth.

Rick ran his tongue over the cartiledge woven meat, and groaned low in his throat. His teeth sank into the rich meat slowly, and tried to remember the last time he'd had a t-bone that tasted that good. He wolfed down the entire thing within minutes, even sucking the marrow out of the bone hungrily.

He tore into package after package until the growling in his stomach was sated for the moment. He sighed and moved further through the store until he reached the toothpaste aisle. The meat had quelled his hunger, but the lingering taste of metallic blood in his mouth was something that he knew would have turned his stomach a few days before. Brushing his teeth was a sense of normalcy. He _needed_ normal.

He moved quickly and quietly to the bathroom and went about the motions of brushing his teeth. It was then, staring at him pale face in the mirror, that he realized he hadn't been breathing since he started brushing his teeth. He gasped quietly at the realization, and tried to regulate a forced breath once again, but it came out as a raspy whistle.

He raised his hand to his neck, just behind the pointed curve of his jaw to where his pulse should have been. _Should have_. But it wasn't there. There was nothing there but unmoving, cold skin. A soft whimper escaped his throat and he bolted from the bathroom, running until he reached his lawn chair once again. He collapsed into it and dropped his head into his hands, salty tears sliding down his pale cheeks and dripping onto his pants.

"Rick?" Kate's voice was soft and close to his ear, but she may as well have screamed it with his enhanced hearing.

"Hey." He breathed quietly. "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough." She grinned and settled onto the floor next to him, crossing her legs underneath her body. "What's wrong?"

"I don't..." Rick chuckled sadly. "I don't have a pulse, Kate. I don't...I _can't_ breathe anymore." Kate looked at him, concern written on her face, and lifted a shaky hand to his neck, mirroring his earlier actions. She let out a small cry when she didn't feel anything, and Rick averted his eyes, suddenly unsure in his own body.

"What does this mean, Rick?"

"I'm really not sure. I'll have to ask Goodwin when he wakes up. I'm hoping it's nothing bad, but you never know. This isn't exactly common ground for anyone."

"Rick, you can't think the worst." She whispered, running her hand over the frigid planes of his shoulder blade. His body quivered as it sucked in her warmth, wanting to be back to the stage where he was burning up than this ice age he was suffering through.

He began hacking loudly, all of his muscles convulsing. When he his fist away from his mouth, it was covered in a thick, black, tar substance that he'd noticed on the man he and Kate had encountered on the way to the house.

"What the hell?" He muttered.

"Coffin liquor." Goodwin's voice startled both of them. "That's what we called it. It's when the blood in your veins loses all oxygen because your body no longer needs it. And it looks quite a bit like the Jager that John and I had on my twenty first birthday." He chuckled. "Hence, coffin liquor."

"What does it all mean?" Castle growled.

"It means that you're entering the next phase of your transformation. The body shuts down all systems that make it weak. This, however, was specifically designed to help out special forces. Think about it, Captain Castle, a group like your own, SEALs treking through enemy territory. They come up against water that they have to sneak through, and they have no need to come up for air. They have to ragged breathing to give them away when they are moving through a contained area. It's revolutionary." He mused, pacing as he spoke of his masterpiece.

"Be that as it may, what is going to happen to me?" Castle snapped, grabbing Goodwin's shirt collar and stopping him, pulling him close so that he could level a vicious glare at him.

"You become extraordinary, Captain." He smirked deviously, but a loud crash detered him from asking any more questions. Castle dropped Goodwin and they sprinted to the front of the store where Ryan and Esposito were hold their guns out in front of them nervously.

"We've got company!" Esposito screamed, his eyes never wavering from where the others were clawing at the small hole that they'd shattered into the doors and trying to make it larger. Strips of their flesh hung from the jagged edges of glass and the thick black...coffin liquor streaming down the glass.

"You guys need to go into the back. There is a stair well to the roof, the roof of this building connects to the roof of the next one. You guys get to that roof. I'll meet you there and we'll find our next move." Rick's voice was even and confident as he spoke, his hand tightening around the grip of his Glock 45 and pulling it from the holster.

"What if you don't make it out, Castle?" Esposito asked quietly, obviously reluctant to leave.

"He'll be okay. He regenerates flesh at a remarkable rate." Goodwin replied, already stepping towards the back room. The men nodded and they all sprinted to the back room, but Castle could smell Kate lingering, her body drenched in fear.

"Go, Kate." He snarled, not bothering to look at her.

"I can't, Rick." She replied, her voice wavering.

"Yes, you can, go."

"I can't leave you. What if Goodwin is wrong?" The others began breaking through the door almost completely, one of them even putting his leg through and ducking until he stepped into the store.

"He isn't, trust me."

"Rick, I..." The doors shattered and the wave of them began staggering into the store and quickly moving towards them. Rick popped off a few rounds, some of them dropping to the ground, before he turned to her, his eyes flaming.

"KATE, DAMN IT, RUN!"

_**I'm sorry that this is so short...I didn't want to have to squish all of the ideas that I have for this one and the next chapter into one. The next one will be more actioned packed and *cough* there may be some caskett sexy time. *cough* :) Fear not, smut seekers, you're questions about the mutation affecting Rick's...prowess will soon be answered! ;) Drop me a review and let me know what you think, suggestions and reactions. **_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	14. Chapter Thirteen

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions. **_

_** This chapter is, in fact, RATED M. Please, make a note of this, and avoid this chapter if you don't like it.**_

___Last time in "Situational Control":_

_ "I can't leave you. What if Goodwin is wrong?" The others began breaking through the door almost completely, one of them even putting his leg through and ducking until he stepped into the store._

_ "He isn't, trust me." _

_ "Rick, I..." The doors shattered and the wave of them began staggering into the store and quickly moving towards them. Rick popped off a few rounds, some of them dropping to the ground, before he turned to her, his eyes flaming._

_ "KATE, DAMN IT, RUN!"_

Kate bolted up the stairs, her lungs feeling like they were on fire as adrenaline coarsed through her. She had left him, and she couldn't even fathom the fact that he could be killed. She leaned forward and leaned her hands on her knees, gasping to try to suck in deep breaths.

"Where is he, Kate?" Goodwin asked, glancing from her to the door and back.

"He...he made me leave him...he's fighting them." She gasped, no longer out of breath from exhertion so much as anxiety that clawed at every fiber of her being.

"What? He's down there by himself?" Ryan snapped, pulling his gun from his holster and moving towards the door.

"Ryan, he said that we are supposed to stay up here!" Kate called after him as he flung the door open and started down the stairs. She sighed loudly and moved to follow him, her own gun drawn.

"The hell we are! He isn't going to die down there because he was too damned stubborn to accept our help." Ryan mumbled. They stormed down the stairs and saw Rick standing in the middle of a large group of them, his combat knife glinting in the dim light as he moved fluidly.

Kate began shooting, careful to aim for their heads and avoid Rick's. The bodies dropped in a spray of black, tarry coffin liquor as the bullets tore through them. Rick plunged his knife deeply into one of their eye sockets, giving the blade a quick turn before sliding it out of the rotted flesh.

Ryan's gun flashed as he fired round after round into them, the sick, wet _thwack_ as they hit the bodies triggered a slight twitch in the back of Kate's mind. Her stomach churned and she leaned over the railing, emptying the contents of her stomach. When she stablized herself enough and was sure that she was not going to be sick again, she straightened and turned back to were Rick stood, his chest heaving as he surveyed the pile of bodies around him.

"I thought I told you to stay upstairs?"

"And let you have all of the fun? No way." Ryan smirked and hosltered his gun once again. They motioned for the others that had stayed on the roof to come down.

"Now where do we go?" Kate asked, her voice shaky and the lingering taste of vomit on the back of her tongue. She reached into her backpack and pulled a bottle of water, swishing it through her mouth quickly before spitting it over the railing.

"We need to move to another building. Set up camp, see what other supplies that we can gather, and mark out what our next plan is going to be." Castle motioned for everyone to gather their packs. "We need to move quickly, and quietly. They are attracted to noise and we can't draw attention to ourselves."

The gang hoisted their packs and grabbed as many supplies as they could. They moved slowly and quietly to the door, all of their senses on high alert. The streets were abandoned and empty, but they were hung with an ominous, moonlit glow. They moved slowly and silently through the rows of cars until they rounded the next block and noticed a darkened hotel. It wasn't large, especially for being in the middle of New York City, but it would be perfect.

The door was open when Castle tried pushing it inward. They split up and checked every one of the rooms for others, but found that they were alone. They met up in the lobby and boarded up the doors.

"Okay, you guys can stay here while I move out to scout the area."

"Shouldn't you wait until the sun comes up?" Esposito asked, bending to dig through the bag at his feet until he found a bottle of water.

"I can see, remember? I track by heat signatures and scent. Everything gives off some sort of signature, so I can see everything at night." He mumbled, his mouth watering as he watched the other man's Adam's apple bob as he drank the water. His tongue suddenly felt too thick for his mouth and a deep ache curled in the pit of his stomach. He yearned to have the heavy metallic taste of blood running down the back of his throat.

He felt sweat trickling down the back of his neck, and suddenly the room was too crowded. The whirring of white noise in his brain suddenly seemed like it was a hundred times louder than it had been a moment before. It vaugely resgistered that Kate was saying something to him, but he couldn't focus long enough to figure out what it was. It took him a moment before he was able to break through the haze in his mind.

"Rick? Are you okay?" She mumbled, her hand on his arm was scorching hot against his cold skin. He opened his mouth to respond, but opted for running to the closest room instead, slamming the door behind him. His chest heaved as he sat on the edge of the bed, his head resting in his hands. He couldn't even fathom the fact that he'd had thoughts like that about Espostio.

Since he'd turned, he noticed more and more frequently that his thoughts seemed like they weren't his own. They were animalistic, vicious and frightening. He'd had been trying to force himself to breathe, even though the need was no longer there. He missed the normalcy, and the unformed intake of breath every few seconds. He missed sleeping. He hadn't needed to sleep more than an hour since the change.

He heard the click of her shoes long before she opened the door and poked her head in.

"Rick?" She whispered, stepping cautiously into the room and closing the door gently behind her. He heard the 'click' of the lock and winced. She was locked in the room with him. He was a monster, and she _locked_ the damned door...

"Please leave, Kate." His voice was low and even as he spoke. He was getting damned good at hiding the quiver of fear that he was feeling.

"Good luck with that." She chuckled, sitting next to him on the bed. She hooked her finger under his chin and lifted his head so that she could look in his eyes. "Talk to me."

"I...Espostio." He stated.

"What about him?"

"He...I was thinking about..." He heaved a sigh and shook his head. "Nothing."

"That look wasn't nothing. You ran out like you'd seen a ghost, Rick."

"I was thinking about killing him, okay?" He barked, watching the pulse in her neck speed up in fear as he growled the words at her. Before he had a chance to stop himself, he had her pinned to the bed, his body settled between her legs and his hands holding hers above her head.

Kate gasped when she felt a hard throbbing against her thigh, the evidence of his arousal shocking the both of them. His forced breath was hot and rough against her face as his eyes burned into hers. His hips thrusted forward against hers of their own volition. A deep, gravely groan emitted from her throat and her eyes fluttered shut.

He knew he should stop, but that didn't stop him from grasping her breast roughly in his calloused hand as he pulled into a bruising kiss. He pinched her hardened nipple through the fabric of her shirt and rolled it roughly. Kate groaned again, the noises she was making only spurring him on further.

He leaned back enough to slip out of his jeans and boxers, his raging erection throbbing almost painfully. He wondered for a moment, how that was even possible when there was no blood pumping through his veins, but the thought was lost amidst the lust that seared through him.

He reached forward and tore her clothing from her body, his eyes raking hungrily over her frame. He felt like he was seeing her body for the first time again. He tore his shirt over his head and tossed it across the room before hovering over her, his chest barely brushing over her taught nipples, just enough to create a delicious friction between them. His tip brushed her entrance, her wetness coating the tip heatedly. He had never known a warmth like that, when her hot center brushed over his icy skin.

His kissed her neck hungrily, teeth grazing vulnerable skin violently enough to leave purple-red bruises on the ivory canvas. He was so close to breaking skin. Close enough to taste the blood running underneath the close knit skin cells. He nipped the hollow of her throat and used the arching of her back, which he knew had been coming when he found that spot, and slid into her heat until he was buried to the hilt.

They let out a collective sigh of contentment as he began thrusting frantically, not giving her a chance to adjust to his overwhelming size. He let his cool fingers drift down her torso as they moved together, the diffence in heat making her shiver, until he reached the overly sensitive bundle of nerves seated in her dripping womanhood. He rubbed small circles on the bundle until she was writhing beneath him, her muscles clenching around him. She was so close, he could feel her orgasm building under the surface, but he wasn't finished with her yet. He leaned down until his mouth was directly next to her ear and pulled completely out of her. Her whine of protest almost had him pounding into her once again.

"You do _not_ come until I tell you. Are we clear?" He snarled against the shell of her ear. She couldn't answer him, so she opted to nod slowly. He allowed himself to slip back inside her and kept his thrusts slow and methodic, drawing mewls and sighs from her that he'd never heard any woman make before.

"Please, _God, _harder!" She hissed, throwing her hips up towards him. Rick couldn't deny her, but he also felt heat curling in his stomach. His hips started moving viciously, pounding against hers until the only sounds that filled the room was the slap of their skin against one another and her harsh, ragged breathing. "Ah...Rick...I'm going to c-come..." She stammered. "P-please, don't stop." She moaned loudly, her fingers grasping at his shoulders and pulling him into another rough kiss. He felt her shatter around him, her muscles quivering around him and pulling his own release from deep within him.

He groaned loudly, his heated release filling her in a way that she'd never experienced. He hovered above her a moment, his head buried in the crook of her neck as he waited to regain his bearings and for the room to stop spinning around him before he rolled onto his back, slipping out of her but holding her to his chest. He pulled the wrinkled comforter over their naked bodies, his still icy cold, but hers heated with the startchy feel of drying sweat.

"I'm sorry." He whispered into her ear, guilt and shame boiling inside him like an illness.

"Don't be, Rick. I know this is hard for you." She replied, turning her face up to look at him and resting her chin on his chest. "You're not really going to go out there after those things in the dark by yourself are you?"

"How else are we going to know what we're dealing with? And I would rather have me out there than any of you. I'll hear them, smell them, and get their heat signature way before you would."

"Do they even have a heat signature?" She ran a hand over his stomach, shivering at the coolness of his skin. "You're so cold."

"Everything has a heat signature, Kate, some are just hotter than others." He chuckled, tracing the curve of her hip. She gave a large yawn in response. "You need some sleep." He murmured against her hair.

"I know..." She replied, her breath slowing even as she spoke. He stroked her hair for a moment, his fingers tangling around the silken locks until she fell asleep. He seized the moment of her sleeping and slid his arm out from around her, and shuffled around quietly until he was dressed.

He slipped his shoes on and hooked his belt before moving towards the door, making sure that his gun was cocked and ready. He hesitated a moment, his hand clasping the door and he banged his head against the frame lightly. He sighed and glanced at her sleeping figure.

"I love you, Katherine Beckett." He whispered and moved out into the lobby to go scout the area. She desperately wished that he had stayed to hear her whisper her response.

"I love you too."

_** So, thoughts? Reactions? Suggestions? Drop me a review and let me know.**_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	15. Chapter Fourteen

_** Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

__Rick stepped out onto the barron, empty street cautiously, his eyes trained on every heat signature in front of him, waiting for movement. He drew his gun and started moving, his steps quick and precise. He was aware of every shifting pebble under his barefeet. Rick hadn't bothered to put his boots back on after he had gotten dressed. He could move faster without them, and he didn't exactly need to worry about the shards of glass cutting his flesh. A paragraph of Goodwin's research journal that he'd been studying on his overnight watch flashed through his mind.

_Photosynthetic cell regeneration is the body's form of regenerating dead cells and replacing them with new ones at an almost superhuman rate of speed. The FDA has not approved the research and testing of this method. Our tests must remain underground and secretive until the approval has gone through. Test subject A was injected with the serum at 0145 hours. His heart went into cardiac arrest and the transformation took place at 0216 hours, at which time we shot him in the left bicep. His cells regenerated almost instantly. However, the test subject's brain did not regain its function. We euthanized the subject at 0245 hours. Will try again tomorrow night. _

That's how his foot worked. Something about the sun's rays being stored in his cells and helping to regrow cells in the place of dead ones. It was amazing to him that they could come up with something like that, but he was even more impressed that they could get away with the tests without the government finding out about them.

He moved around the crushed cars that littered the streets. He needed to make it to the precinct and see if there were any survivors there, though he secretly hoped that he wouldn't find anyone. He wasn't exactly sure that they would be able to understand his current situation. Hell, he wasn't sure that he wanted them to be there because the hunger tearing through his stomach was so overpowering that he wasn't positive what would happen to someone that he didn't know well enough to care about.

Somewhere to his left, the orange lit outline of a staggering figure hobbled into his vision. He froze, his gun outstretched in front of him, and waited for the figure to pass the cars until he had a clear shot. As soon as he cleared the twisted metal frame, Castle dropped a bullet into the side of his head, making sure that he killed the brain function. He knew that was the only way that they could be truly killed. It registered that, if someone were to get a shot off at his head, he would drop as easily as that one had.

He slowly walked over to the body that was slumped against the cracked pavement, and delivered a vicious kick to its ribs, the bones cracking loudly. The resounding crack was a delicious symphony to his ears and had saliva welling around his tongue. He leaned close enough to tear a hunk of flesh from the body's shoulder before popping it into his mouth and chewing the rich meat.

He was disgusted with himself, with what he'd become. A surge of anger bubbled underneath his skin as he thought about Goodwin. He was the bastard that had made him this way. Him and his friend, those stupid jackasses had been fucking around with things that they had no business changing around.

He continued down the street, picking his pace up to a light jog so that he could make it to the precinct and back to the hotel before sun rise. He didn't want to be out in the open by himself longer than he had to. He trusted his new, enhanced senses, but all of the training that he had gotten in the military had taught him to rely on others as much as he relied on himself. Only a fool would allow himself to be dumb enough to think he could take on the world with his wit and determination.

He almost choked a sigh of relief when he burst through the doors of the precinct and found the lobby empty. He moved through each of the other rooms quickly, clearing all of them and finding that he was completely alone. He moved down to the weapons locker and stocked up on ammo and more guns.

He tucked magazines of bullets into his belt and moved back down the stairs and onto the street back towards the hotel. He was halfway back to the hotel when a thought hit him. He needed to talk to Goodwin, and fast. He sprinted the rest of the way and practically tumbled through the door, thankful that they had left it unlocked for him.

"Goodwin!" He barked, tossing the guns and ammo onto the table in front of Esposito and Ryan before tearing down the hallway and practically banging down the door to Goodwin's room.

"Captain Castle, what can I do for you?" He asked, peeking around the door. Castle pushed past him and entered the room, shutting the door behind them tightly.

"I need to talk to you."

"What about?"

"I slept with Kate." He stated bluntly, ignoring the obvious shock and blush that crept up Goodwin's neck. "What's going to happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that there was an exchange of fluids, saliva and otherwise, what's that going to do to her?" He snapped, his blood boiling.

"Oh, I see. Well, the disease is transfered through saliva, but only when the saliva is transfered through the blood. Saliva to saliva or...any other fluids should contain the disease." Castle sighed in relief. "However, if you guys didn't know use protection, there is potential to transfer the disease to any offspring..." Castle's eyes nearly bugged out of his head and his heart dropped to his feet.

"O...offspring?"

"Yes. You know, children?"

"I _know_ what offspring means, Goodwin." He growled, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "What would that entail? If there was an kid as a result?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure exactly. We've never had something like this happen before, like I said, you're our first successful test subject. But, I would assume that the progression of the pregnancy would be much faster than anything we've ever seen. Hopefully, the child would be more like you, with a fully functioning brain and ability to control his impulses. Speaking of, how are your impulse control triggers doing?" He pulled a pen light from his shirt pocket and shined it into Rick's eyes to test his pupils.

"Fine. I haven't torn anyone's face off yuet, have I?" He growled, partially because he was insulted that Goodwin would even ask, and partially because he was trying to shove the memory of his apprehensive thoughts before entering the precinct down to the back of his mind.

"Well, that's good. Let me know if anything changes, and we'll keep an eye on Kate. Other than that, I wouldn't worry about anything." Rick nodded his thanks and ducked back out of the room, moving across the hall to the room where Kate was still sleeping. Her form was huddled under the blanket and she was snoring softly. He grinned despite himself as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed and caught sight of her tousled hair.

He tucked an unruly curl behind her ear before pulling his hand away, his fingers landing on her stomach over the blankets. He inhaled deeply, letting her scent fill his nostrils. He froze when he caught the full bouquet of her scent. There was something...off. Something different about her. He dropped his head until his chin hit his chest. They were about to be in quite a bit of trouble, so long as Goodwin had his facts correctly.

_Fuck._

_**So, thoughts? Feelings? Suggestions? Drop me a review and let me know. **_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	16. Chapter Fifteen

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

___Undisclosed location_

_ 29 August, 2004_

_ 0323 hours_

_ "Castle, we've got to move. We've got t-minus eight minutes until they arrive." Lewis muttered over the comm. He was situated somewhere on the hill opposite to the enemy compound they'd infiltrated. He sucked in a deep breath, resting his hand on the shoulder of the man in front of him. _

_ They had braced themselves against the wall of the building. He tapped the man in front of him on the shoulder and the man burst through the door, gun drawn, with the rest of the squad following him. _

_ They swarmed through the compound, kicking open doors to each of the rooms inside and clearing them. Castle barked orders to each of them, keeping his eyes trained on the sight of his weapon._

_ The squad had been called in to recover a journalist who'd been taken hostage after being caught behind the lines of a country they were never supposed to be in. _

_ He moved slowly through the hallway to the back room, the smell of gun powder and burnt flesh stinging his nose and making his eyes water. _

_ "Castle, they've entered the compound." Lewis snarled moments before the 'pfft' of the bullet flying from his sniper rifle. Outside the window, a body thumped to the ground as the sickly smell of blood filtered through the air. "What are you doing, man? Do you not get that they're closing in on you? Move! Now!" _

_ "I'm going, Lewis. Give me a damned minute, the package isn't where she's supposed to be. Did Chief give us the wrong coordinates?" He barked, scanning the empty room that was supposed to contain their victim. He stepped onto one of the floorboards that creaked strangely. "Shit, wait a minute, I think I got a trapdoor."_

_ He knelt down and threw back the rug, revealing a rusted metal handle. He grasped it and threw back the door, gasping when he found a whimpering, dirt covered woman who was huddled in the corner of the small hole. _

_ "Ma'am, I'm Captain Richard Castle. We're here to take you home." He whispered, ducking into the hole. "I just have to ask you a few questions. What was your mother's maiden name?"_

_ "B-Bradshaw."_

_ "What street were you born on?"_

_ "Persephone Lane." The woman whispered, her hand grasping Castle's loosely. _

_ "Good." He replied quietly, lifting her gently out of the hole and cradling her in his arms, his gun slung over his sholder by the strap. "That's good. We're gonna take you home, Miss Johnson." The woman's eyes met his and tears began dropping from her eyes, all of the tension flooding from her body. _

_ Rodriguez strode up beside him and took the woman from his arms before running out the door towards their extraction vehicle. _

_ "Two minutes to extract, Castle, we gotta get the boys to the rendevous point." Lewis' static laden voice crackled in his ear. _

_ "10-4, we'll meet you two at the exfil." He turned to pick up the knife that had fallen from its sheath on his calf and was greeted by a solid knee to his temple. He sprawled across the dusty floor of the compound. He shakily got to his feet, pushing himself up and glaring at the man staring at him. _

_ "What the fuck do you boys think you're doing?" The other man snarled, gesturing out the window to where Rodriguez was helping the woman into the truck. Castle lashed out and punched the man squarely in his jaw, sending him flying backwards and took the chance to bolt out the door towards the truck._

_ "Go, go, go!" He barked, hopping into the bed of the truck and slamming the palms of his hands on top of the cab. The truck tore out of the compound, spitting gravel and dust behind it. _

_ They sped down the small, remote, dirt road quickly, the dense foliage scorching past them. The roar of an engine behind them and a hail of bullets drew Castle's attention. Less than a hundred meters behind them, a second truck tore down the road, men hanging out two of the windows with automatic rifles blazing. _

_ He lifted his rifle to his shoulder and fired, watching one of the men drop from the window in a bloom of blood. Spiderweb cracks splintered across the trucks windshield as he fired. Their truck skidded to a stop, the tires hanging precariously over the ragged edge of a cliff._

_ "Son of a bitch!" Castle barked. "Lewis, we've lost the primary exfil, proceed to secondary."_

_ "Copy that, Captain, we'll meet you there." _

_ Castle jumped from the bed of the pick up truck and assisted his squad members with pulling the woman from the cab. The others had begun running through the treeline, the woman slung across Rodriguez's shoulders, when Castle felt the hand on his shoulder, throwing him to the ground. _

_ His back connected with a large rock, stealing the air from his lungs, and a man was on him in a second. The larger man straddled his hips and grasped his shoulders tightly, bouncing Rick's head off of the ground. _

_ Castle reached up and grasped the man's throat, flipping their position and tightened his grasp, his thumbs digging into the man's trachea. He watched the color fading to a light blue in the man's face as he gripped even tighter._

_ "CASTLE!" The voice sounded distant and quiet, like it was someone yelling at him when he was underwater. Suddenly, the landscape disappeared and he was falling through an infinite blackness, his limbs flailing wildly. "CASTLE!"_

"CASTLE!" Esposito barked, his hands attempting to pry Castle's hands from around Ryan's neck. Castle dropped the smaller man immeidately as if he'd been burned. Ryan dropped to the floor and sucked in desperate gasps of air, his hands going to his throat and rubbing over the forming bruises. "What the hell are you doing, bro?"

"I...I'm so sorry, Ryan. I have no idea what came over me. I think...I think I was sleep walking."

"That's not possible. The subjects do not need to sleep." Goodwin piped in from where he was apprehensively standing in the doorway, his hands wringing together.

"Well, what woudl you call it? I was thinking about one of my trips overseas, and the next thing I know, Ryan is the same color as a Smurf because I'm holding him six inches off of the ground and choking the shit outta him."

"I must admit, this is something that I've never seen before. Perhaps it was something like a day dream, you know? Perhaps you were awake, but your brain shuts down and allows your subconcious to take over."

"Like a waking nightmare." Castle sighed, pinching his nose between his fingers. "So, what happens if they can't wake me up next time, Nick?"

"I...I honestly can't tell you for certain that we will be able to, Rick. But, I can assure you that your willpower is strong enough to avoid it happening again. You're a strong man."

He grumbled and moved past the other men to sit on the lobby chair. He waited until they followed and took the seats next to him.

"So, what'd you see out there?" Ryan asked quietly, his voice raspy.

"Went to the precinct, there's no one there. The place was deserted. Picked up those guns," He gestured to the weapons that had been taken apart and cleaned. "Ran into one of those things, but I neutralized the situation. The entire city had been ransacked."

"You didn't even see the captain?"

"No. Empty. Vacant. Everyone is gone. What part of that are you missing?" Castle barked at Esposito.

"Where are we going to go?" Ryan whispered, peeking out the window at the empty street.

"I'm not sure. West. Maybe they haven't hit there." Castle replied, his gaze not focused on any particular spot.

"I can't believe how fast this happened. This morning there were none of them, and now it seems like we're the only ones left. How did they do this so quickly?" Esposito asked, running his hand over the back of his neck and glancing at Goodwin.

"Well, they can move quickly when they want to. They have a hunger drive like nothing that you've ever felt before, and it pushes them to amazing physical limits." "So, basically, if we're in their way and they're hungry, we're fucked?"

"Yeah. That's basically it." Goodwin nodded slowly. They all turned their attention to the hallway when a shuffling noise hit their ears.

All of their eyes nearly bugged out of their heads and their jaws dropped when they saw Kate leaning in the doorway, her hand resting on her protruding stomach. Castle was next to her in an instant, helping her stay upright.

He placed his hand next to hers and jumped when he felt something moving under his fingertips. She looked at him with a terrified gaze. Her stomach had gone from flat to looking like she was nine months pregnant in the span of a few hours. Castle helped her move to the table where Goodwin examined her quickly.

"Guys, I think we're going to have a problem."

"What is it?" Castle growled. Goodwin stood and looked him in the eye, his hand braced on Castle's shoulder.

"She's in the early stages of preterm labor."

_**So, I know that this whole pregnancy is moving incredibly fast, but you've got to figure, superhuman-undead spawn would probably develop a bit differently than normal babies...so bear with me.**_

_** Thoughts? Suggestions? Reactions? Drop me a review and let me know.**_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	17. Chapter Sixteen

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions.**_

_** So, to answer some questions that were asked in the reviews, Martha and Alexis live in Washington D.C., where Castle is from. Not to worry, though, they will be coming up in the oncoming chapters. As for Lanie, she was in the precinct when the horde arrived, but I can neither confirm nor deny that she will make another apperance.**_

__"Labor? What?" She whispered, running her hands over her stomach tenderly. "I...how did this happen?" She asked, her eyes meeting Rick's, searching for some answer. He helped her to her feet carefully.

"I'm going to take her to the room and get her situated. I'll explain things to her, Goodwin." He said, his voice quiet and even.

Castle led her to the bedroom slowly, her hand squeezing his tightly through the pain. She settled herself under the blanket, shifting uncomfortably until she found a suitable position, then turned her eyes to him expectantly. Rick sighed and settled next to her on the bed, his hand running through her hair tenderly.

"So, here's the thing, Kate," He took a deep, stuttering breath. "Goodwin has no idea what's going to come of this. He's never experienced something like this before. I'm going to be here with you every step of the way, I'm not going to leave you."

"I'm scared, Rick." She whispered, reaching up and taking his hand in hers, lacing their fingers tightly.

"I know you are, I'm scared too, but we'll get through this together. Okay?" She nodded slowly, her eyes welling with tears. "Okay. I need you to be strong for me, Kate. We..._I_ need you to make it through this alive. I'm so sorry that I did this to you, but I cannot lose you. I l..." He sniffled and brushed the thick tears off of his face. "Just, please, make it through this for me, Kate. I need you."

"Everything will be okay, Rick." She kissed his forehead gently and cradled his head into the crook of her neck, running her hands through his hair carefully. He stood abruptly, running the back of his hands over his eyes and moved to the door.

"I'm going to go get Goodwin, Kate. Maybe he can tell us how far along your labor is." He opened the door and stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind him and letting his head to drop to the wood a moment, soaking in everything that was happening. He didn't need to turn around to know that Ryan and Esposito were behind him, he could smell the difference in the air.

He turned to face them slowly, his eyes settling on the dark bruise around Ryan's throat, a twinge of shame flicking through him. The boys glared at him intensely, thier arms crossed over their chests.

"So." Esposito snarled.

"So?"

"So, you slept with Kate, huh?" He snapped, his eyes narrowing even further.

"Oh for fuck's sake. She's going into labor with an undead baby, one that could potentially come out and try to kill us all, and _that's_ the part that you're concerned about?" He rolled his eyes and brushed past them into the lobby, gesturing for Goodwin to go in and check on her.

Rick pulled a city map from the stack that was sitting on the hotel desk and laid it out on the table in front of them. He grabbed a Sharpie from the desk drawer and marked out a route out of the city, marking places along the route that they could try stopping.

"That's not west, I thought we were going west?" Ryan questioned, his voice still gravelly and raspy.

"D.C., I need to see if my daughter and mother are alright. I can't just abandon them." Castle replied, his eyes burning into both of them, daring either of them to challenge him. Thankfully, neither of them said a word, and instead, simply nodded their agreement.

"Then we'll go to Washington." Esposito replied, placing his hand on Rick's shoulder comfortingly. A moment later, Goodwin came out of the door, drying his hands on a bath towel.

"How is she?" Castle asked, his eyes searching Goodwin's face.

"She's doing well, all things considered. Her heart rate is stable, she had a good reaction to light, all of her brain function still seems to be working. Looks a lot like a normal delivery so far. Dialated to six centimeters. Shouldn't be too long before we get to meet the little Castle spawn." Goodwin grinned.

A scream tore from the bedroom and had Castle and Goodwin sprinting back to Kate's side. She gripped Castle's hand tightly and slammed her eyes shut, sweat beading along her brow.

"Oh my God." Goodwin breathed, his eyes flicking to meet Castle's. "Well, it looks like we'll be meeting him sooner than anticipated. I've got his head crowning already."

"Okay, baby, we need to breath and relax. Look right here, look at me." Castle whispered into her ear, his eyes meeting hers.

"Kate, I need you to push." A scream tore from Kate's throat once again and her hand squeezed Rick's moments before an ear piercing cry broke through the air.

**XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX **

Ryan chewed at his thumb nail nervously, watching Esposito pace the floor of the lobby for the thousandth time. Rick and Goodwin had gone into the room twenty minutes before, and then there had been the screams and the baby's cry, but no one had come out of the room since then.

"What do you think happened?" Ryan asked, causing Esposito to stop and run his hand over his face wearily.

"I don't know, bro. Maybe the kid freaked out and ate all of them." He gave a nervous chuckle and continued pacing back and forth again. The door opened and their heads snapped to the doorway and they moved quickly.

Rick smiled affectionately at the small boy cradled in his arms. The baby's gold eyes peeked up at Ryan and Espostio warmly, his hand reaching out and wrapping around Esposito's index finger.

"Geeze, he's got quite the grip, doesn't he?"

"You should feel his father's." Kevin grumbled, tossing a wink at Rick. "How's Kate?"

"She's amazing. Goodwin is taking care of her now, but she was a real trooper. I better get back in there." He moved back into the room, cradling his son tightly to his chest.

Kate looked at him from the bed, her hair matted to her head with sweat, and a smile spread across her face. Rick grinned and sat in the chair that he'd moved next to the bed.

"Hey, handsome." She whispered, reaching out and running her hand over the sprig of red hair on the baby's soft head.

"Hey, yourself." Rick smiled, kissing her softly. Kate chuckled and pulled away.

"I was talking to the baby, you know?" She muttered. Rick laughed in response before handing the baby to her to feed.

"I know, but I chose to take it as a compliment to me. Gotta get my ego stroked every now and then, don't I?"

"I suppose so." She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

"So, what's the news, Goodwin?"

"Well, from what I can tell, the baby is a hybrid, much like you are, Rick. However, it seems that he's going to be a bit different. He's going to eat milk like any other infant, so we don't really need to worry about him attacking any one now. I don't think that he's going to be growing at any abnormal rate of speed, there's no evidence to support anything other than a normal infancy. I cannot give you any certain guesses about his toddler and older years, but I think that we can rest easy at least for now." Rick let out a sigh of relief, his muscles relaxing.

"Kate, we can't stay here much longer. We need to move, do you think that you can do that for me?" Rick whispered, his hand brushing over the baby's head.

"I think we can do that."

"Are you in any pain?"

"Not much pain, don't worry so much, Rick." She chuckled, resting her palm against his cheek. He nodded slowly and stood from the chair.

"Then we've got to get going. We don't have much time until they arrive here." He moved to the window, and peeked out around the curtains. The sun had long since come over the horizon and hung in the sky over the buildings. Rick squinted at the brightness of the heat signatures now that the sun had warmed them all.

When he turned back around, Kate had gotten to her feet and pulled her jeans back onto her hips. She button them quickly and held their son to her chest, smirking at him.

"You're so beautiful, you know that?" He asked quietly, placing a kiss to both of their cheeks.

"We have to come up with a name still."

"There will be plenty of time for that, don't worry. Right now, we've got to get somewhere safe. Then we need to move east, to D.C., I need to know if Alexis and my mother are okay."

"I understand, Rick. We need to get a car, right?"

"There are a few that are still intact outside." He helped her to her feet and they moved quickly out into the lobby where Ryan and Esposito were looking over the map again.

"Hey, boss, congratulations." Ryan grinned, pulling his shirt up to try to hide the bruise, but the shock that registered on her face was enough to tell her that he hadn't.

"C'mon fellas, we're heading out. There are cars out front, we need to move, and we need to do it fast. There's a horde of them closing in. The dead are beginning to change outside, we don't have time to waste." Castle barked, and they all moved outside, climbing into the SUV that was straddling the curb in front of the hotel.

Castle waited until everyone got situated, Ryan, Esposito, Beckett and the baby settled into the backseat and Goodwin next to him, before he tore down the street. He steered the car back onto the highway and took the route towards Washington.

He had to know. He had to know if his mother and his baby girl were alive.

_**So, here's the deal. I have no ideas for names for the baby. Anyone who has an idea, drop me a review and let me know, and I'll consider all suggestions. I will give the person who gives me the name that I use a shout out in the next author's note. Also, throw me all suggestions, reactions or thoughts. **_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	18. Chapter Seventeen

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe.**_

_** So, the credit for choosing the baby name goes to MisterBlueButterfly. MisterBlueButterfly also created this incredible photo of the baby, and it is almost identical to how I invisioned him in my head" **_

_** http : / mediafire. com / imageview. php ? quickkey = 0ig3a8aczgsi7q9**_

_** (Take out the spaces)**_

___Undisclosed Coordinates, Pacific Ocean_

_ 13 April, 2010_

_ "Captain Castle, we've got a destroyer on the horizon. How would you like us to proceed?" The squad's Senior Chief asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper._

_ Castle glanced at the blue print of the destroyer in front of him. Their sub had lost the port engine and the torpedo tube and their mechanic had yet to be able to fix either. He lifted the walkie to his lips and whispered softly into it._

_ "Ratchet, I need you to figure out what's wrong with the torpedo tube. I've got a plan." _

_ "Aye, sir. I need some time." Ethan "Ratchet" Morales replied, his voice crackling and broken over the static filled walkie channel. Water leaked ominously from each of the cracks along the walls. _

_ "We don't have much time, Ratchet, we're coming up on an enemy destroyer, and we need to neutralize the situation. They've already pinged our location. Fix it, Morales." He hung the walkie back up and turned back to the controls. "Tayver, what have you got over there?" He turned to the man with oversized headphones on his ears and his hands resting on various knobs._

_ "I've got surface disturbances. Splash. Enemy destroyer deploying depth charges, sir." The young man whispered. He closed his eyes. "I've got ten...make it eleven charges in the water." _

_ Five sets of nervous eyes were staring at Castle when he turned around. He wrung his hands in a subconcious nervous gesture. _

_ "You ever been depth charged, Senior?" Castle whispered, moving to stand next to the older man. Senior Chief Henry Scott ran his hand over the greying beard on his chin thoughtfully, his dull blue eyes meeting Castle's._

_ "Yeah, once when I was on a sub during Desert Storm. We were off the coast and they caught our position, dropped barrels and tried to blow us out of the water. One of 'em discharged so close to the sub that my Senior Chief had five teeth blown straight outta his head." _

_ Silence filled the sub, save for the ticking of the engine in the engine room. It was shattered when the charges began discharging. Ear-shattering explosions broke through the thickness of the water, their ship rocking violently and throwing the sailors to the ground. _

_ Castle staggered to his feet in the darkness, the internal lights having been knocked out by the blasts. He hauled a flash light out of the over head compartment and flicked it on. _

_ "Everyone alive?" He whispered loud enough so that he was audible over the whir of the engines. A chorus of 'aye, sir' rang out and he watched them all move to their feet as well. "Good. Senior, I have a plan, but we need to move, and move fast. Take us to one-eigth-oh meters." Senior's eyes doubled in size, but he moved towards the pilots any way._

_ "Captain, that's almost at maximum depth. We run the risk of the ship becoming under too much pressure. That depth could crush us like a chip bag." Senior whispered, but Castle shot him a stern glance. "Take us to one-eight-oh. Set the planes to forty-five degree descent." _

_ "Aye, senior." The sub began its descent. He lifted the walkie from its cradle and held it to his lips again. _

_ "Ratchet, I need you to secure the air pressure to launch that torpedo, now!" He barked, keeping his voice low but harsh. _

_ "Aye, Captain, but there's a leak in the air line, it's underwater. I can't fit down the bilge shaft."_

_ "Then you come up here and grab someone who can." He slammed the walkie back into its cradle and moved back to the front of the control room. "What's our depth, Senior?"_

_ "Closing in on one-eight-oh." Castle nodded and turned to see the mechanic jogging up the walk way and wrapping his hand around Gabriel Hunt's bicep._

_ "You're up, Blackjack. You're the only one of us that can fit down that bilge shaft." Gabriel dug his heels against the ground, a panicked look blanketing his face. _

_ "I-I can't, there's...there's no way..." He stammered, his hand clutching the center pylon of the ship tightly. Castle groaned and moved to face him, his hands wrapping around the young man's biceps and pulling him closer._

_ "You listen to me, Hunt. You're going to get your ass down to that engine room and you're going to fix this air leak. You're going to do your job, sailor. Do you copy me?" He shook Hunt slightly until the younger man nodded shakily._

_ "A-aye, sir." Hunt and Morales took off towards the engine room and Castle looked back to the controls. Somewhere to his left, lugnuts began exploding from the wall, sea water spraying from the open holes. He was moving to secure the air locks when the lug nuts on the opposite side followed suit._

_ "Captain, we've got to pull up, the ship can't handle this depth!" Senior barked. _

_ "Pull up to one-five-oh!" Castle looked at the depth gauge and was shocked to find the depth increasing instead of decreasing. "I said pull up! What are you doing?"_

_ "Sir, we're not doing this, the ship is descending on its own."_

_ "Divert the water and release the bilge from the engine room."_

_ "Aye, sir." The pilots began hitting different dials and he could see the depth meter changing. _

_ "Captain, the ascent has begun, but I cannot control the speed of it anymore. We need those torpedos ready by the time we surface or we're dead. The men on this ship know national secrets that we cannot allow getting into the open. You know this?"_

_ "I'm aware of our knowledge, Senior. What's your point?"_

_ "My point is, the risk we run if the torpedo isn't ready is not that some of us will die. It's that we may live. If we're found alive and captured, they will torture us without reservations. What I'm saying, son, is that, if this doesn't work, you better make damned sure we're dead before they board our ship." Senior whispered before moving to the controls. "Depth at seventy meters and rising fast." The walkie crackled to life from the holster._

_ "We've got torpedos running in all aspects, ready to fire at your command, sir."_

_ "So, Captain, you really intend to take on a warship with one running motor and one torpedo in the tube?"_

_ "That's the idea." He whispered. _

_ "Depth at fifteen meters."_

_ "Raise parascope." The parascope slid from the hull of the submarine. "There she is. Steer ten degrees to starboard. There, that's good. Hold that bearing, Mister Grayson. Ratchet, I need you to fire."_

_ "Aye, sir." Castle waited a second, watching the deck guns on the other ship swivel towards them._

_ "They've got us bracketted, Ratchet, you fire that torpedo now, or we die!" He screamed into the walkie. The ship rocked as the torpedo launched from the tube, creating a wake behind it. The sailors on the deck of the other ship scrambled, the bow of the ship moving slightly as they desperately tried to swing out of the line of the torpedo. _

_ He held his breath and waited. Waited. Waited. Waited. Time stood still as the torpedo impacted with the destroyer, the large ship exploding in a plume of flames and smoke. A chorus of cheers rang out as soon as the words 'direct hit. Target neutralized' left Castle's lips._

_ "Sir, we cannot keep this tub afloat much longer. She's taken on water in the stern rooms. She'll be under water in the next hour." Grayson, the pilot, relayed quietly. Castle was about to respond when Ratchet jogged up the walkway, his face sullen and tears staining his cheeks._

_ "Blackjack is dead, sir." He whispered, his voice wavering. "He drowned in the bilge. A pipe shook loose and pinned his legs on his way out." Castle felt his face drop._

_ "Shit." The boat was silent, even the whur of the engine seeming to quiet in reverance. _

_ "Captain, permission to abandon ship?" Senior asked quietly, water lapping at their feet as it rose inside the ship.  
>"Aye. Ready the rafts."<em>

"I like the name Gabriel." Castle whispered, careful not to wake the sleeping child in Kate's arms. She had switched spots with Goodwin at the last rest stop so that she could stretch her legs easier.

"Gabriel?" Kate pondered a moment, glancing down at their son. "I like that too. Very strong name."

"And I was thinking we could do James for a middle name. After your father."

"You remembered that my dad's name is James?" She asked, shock covering her face.

"Of course I did. I don't just think about waterfalls and beaches when you talk, you know?" He chuckled, shooting her an affectionate gaze before turning his attention back to the road. Kate shifted the jacket that was laid over her chest to cover her while she fed the baby and yelped slightly. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure he just got his first tooth." She lifted to baby in front of her and opened his mouth gently. Sure enough, nestled in the red and swollen gumline was a pearly white tooth.

"So much for your damned 'normal growth' theory, Goodwin." Castle scoffed, glancing at the other man in the rearview mirror.

"If you recall, I did mention that it was only a theory, Mister Castle. I never claimed to have any certainty in the growth of the child." Goodwin muttered, not even bothering to open his eyes, his head resting against the window. The 'low fuel' sound chimed loudly.

"Shit. We've got half a mile until the next rest stop. Hopefully there will be some gas left in their tanks or another vehicle." He pulled the SUV onto the ramp into the rest stop and hopped from the vehicle, surveying the abandoned rest stop quickly.

A rusted sign somewhere to their left read 'you are now leaving New York, thanks for visiting!'. He jimmied open the door to a Chevy Tahoe that was parked at the gas pump, the nozzle still situated in the gas tank. He flicked the key and the engine roared to life, the gas gauge reading 'full', and he felt relief wash over him.

A jogged back to the truck and peeked in the driver's door.

"Esposito and Ryan, you're with me, lets get this new truck loaded with all of our gear ASAP. Goodwin, you stay here and watch out for Kate and Gabe." He handed Goodwin a pistol. "Shoot them in the head, you know the drill."

He and the boys set about to switching the gear from one SUV to the other, as quickly as they could. The sun had begun to set once again since they'd spent most of the day driving, and he didn't want the others to be caught moving between the vehicles in the dark.

They were piling the cases of water into the rear of the Tahoe when the shots rang out. Ryan and Esposito sprinted towards the truck, their weapons drawn out in front of them. Castle waited a moment, smelling the air deeply and catalouging the heat signatures before sprinting after them.

He rounded the corner and saw the figures on Goodwin, their jagged teeth ripping through the soft flesh of his stomach and his forearm when he reached up to shield himself. Goodwin's screams broke through the air like daggers as they began eating him alive.

"Goodwin, get up and run!" Castle bellowed, dropping bullets into the nearest one's to him. Goodwin staggered to his feet and began sprinting in the opposite direction. The figures staggered after him, some of them moving faster than others, their hands reached out in front of them and grasping as if they could hinder him.

Castle lifted his pistol, aimed down the sight, and fired, the bullet burrowing through Goodwin's skull. He dropped to his knees immediately before flopping forward onto the pavement. They caught up to him and all collapsed around him, their teeth ripping and tearing through his clothing and flesh. Blood painted the cement around him like a twisted piece of artwork.

"Move, now!" Castle growled, helping Kate out of the passenger's seat and into the new truck. They all hopped in, slamming the doors behind themselves, and hooked their seatbelts as Castle tore out of the rest stop and back onto the highway.

They rode in silence for what seemed like an eternity, the endless night blanketing the highway in front of them. They were miles into the next state before someone spoke.

"You killed him." Ryan whispered.

"I did what had to be done, Ryan. They'd bitten him. There was nothing else that could be done for him." Castle replied, his voice even and calm.

"We could have killed them. Gotten them off his body."

"And then what, Ryan? We wait until he turned and started attacking us?"

"He could have turned and been like you, Rick." Esposito chimed in, though he still stared out the window.

"You want to take the chance of him not turning into something like me? He could have killed either of you. Or Kate. Or Gabe. I did what I had to do. End of story." The men in the back seat silenced, and Rick hammered on the accelerator. He clicked on the radio and dialed into the news station.

"_I don't even know if any of you are out there listening still. They came into Norfolk. Everyone is dead. All of them. We did everything we could, but they were too damn strong. Stay out of the major cities. CNN says that the concentrations are worse there. If anyone is still out there, I'm at the Norfolk Radio News Center. Please. I don't have any supplies stocked up, but I have the building secured. Call our hotline. I need to know what's going on. I need to know that I'm not the only one left."_

And just like that, Castle knew that they were in for one _hell_ of a fight when they reached D.C., but he wasn't going to let those mindless fucks get his family if he had anything to say about it. He would see to it that he sent each one of them to hell personally.

_**Thoughts? Suggestions? Reactions? Drop me a review and let me know.**_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	19. Chapter Eighteen

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe and ABC Productions. **_

__The outline of the houses in the neighborhood that Castle had grown to know as his home glowed in an ominous shade of orange, the heat signatures bouncing back at him. He bit back a surge of bile in his throat as he realized that none of the heat signatures he'd seen yet were humans. The only breathing that he could hear was the shallow breaths that everyone in the SUV.

He steered the truck up his street. Alexis' bike glinted in the low light in front of their garage and he felt his stomach clench. Throwing the gear shift into park, he pulled the gun from the center console, checking to make sure that there was a bullet in the chamber, and unhooking his seat belt.

"You guys stay here, I'm going to go check the house." Kate's eyes met his nervously, her arms secure around Gabe. The baby had grown significantly in the long drive between New York and D.C., it was incredible. He had no idea exactly what was going to become of the child, but he had a feeling it was going to be an interesting ride. Not for the first time, he wished that Goodwin hadn't been attacked by those undead bastards, and he hadn't had to shoot him.

He slid out of the driver's seat, sidestepping the garden gnomes that his mother had insisted on spattering across their front yard, until he reach the front door. His hand hovered over the brass door knob as he peeked through the glass of the door. He wasn't completely sure what he was going to find, and he didn't know if he was going to be able to face the possibility of his little girl having been turned into one of those...things.

He shook off the doubt and pushed the door open, stepping into the entry way slowly. His boots thudded on the dark hardwood floor as he walked towards the living room.

"Mother? Alexis?" He called, his voice echoing off the walls back at him. The house sounded much too empty for his taste. He moved towards the kitchen, subconciously expecting to find his mother leaning over a steaming pot of what ever the hell she had dreamt up to cook that night, but the kitchen was barron.

He practically sprinted up the stairs to the second floor, his gun drawn in front of him cautiously. The plush, emerald carpet squished under his feet, thankfully muffling his steps.

He nudged open the door to his mother's room first, scanning across the acting trophies and Broadway posters on the walls. Her bed was in disarray, the comforter strewn across the room and the sheets torn from the mattress. He shuddered at the sight, hoping that it was just something that his mother did when she woke up every morning.

He backed out of the room slowly and moved back down the hallway, pausing at his own room. He opened the door and scanned over the rough, dark colors of the bedspread and the end tables, adorned with stainless steel lamps, but found nothing. There wasn't even the lingering trace of a heat signature that he'd come to associate with someone having been there recently.

Rick growled low in his throat and moved towards Alexis' room, his hands shaking violently as he reached her door. The pink and purple sign with her name in bubble letters stared back at him mockingly. He'd gotten her the sign at the fair last year on one of their many "daddy and Alexis days".

He opened the door slowly, closing his eyes subconciously until he had stepped into the middle of the room. When he opened them, he glanced around the room slowly, taking in the princess canopy bed, the doll house in the corner and the computer that was settled onto her homework desk. He sat on the bed, picking up the photo that was on her bed side table, and looked at it tenderly. It was a photo of the three of them at the Capitals game. Alexis was his little hockey buddy, despite the fact that she was as girly and studious as they came, she loved to watch NHL games with him. It was one of his favorite past times.

A tiny whimper from the en suite bathroom drew his attention and had him sprinting across the room, gun drawn, and pushing open the door. Huddled in the bath tub, with her knees tucked up to her chest and her fiery hair knotted and matted with dried blood, was his little girl.

"Lexi? Sweetheart?" He stepped closer, still allowing an air of caution in his step.

"D-Daddy?" She whimpered, sitting up and staring at him. That was all it took. Her blue eyes met his, and he knew that it was still her, the tender, loving gaze that she shot him couldn't have belonged to one of the monsters. He holstered his gun and scooped her out of the tub, cradling her to his chest.

"Oh, God, I'm so glad that you're okay, pumpkin." He kissed her forehead more times than he could count, losing himself in the relief that washed over him. "Where's your Grandma?"

"The policemen came and took her away." Alexis whispered into the crook of his neck. "They said that she needed to come with them because she was in danger. I hid under my bed so that they couldn't find me, I wanted to wait until you came home." She whimpered, her hands fisted in his tank top. "Daddy, when I was at school, there were men in the parking lot that were biting people. My teacher made us get back on the bus, but the bus driver didn't stop at any of the stop signs that you usually stop at. I don't know what's happening." Rick began moving down the hallway, needing to get out of the house before they showed up there too. And he needed to get down to the damned police station and figure out what had happened to his mother.

"Alexis, honey, there are going to be some scary things that are going to happen in the next few days. I need you to listen to everything I say, okay? I will explain everything to you, but if I tell you to run, you run, and if I tell you to close your eyes, you do it. Clear?"

"Clear." She replied as they stepped out onto the front porch. He smiled when he saw Kate animatedly talking to Gabe in the front seat. He glanced down at Alexis.

"There's some people I want you to meet, honey. I know that its going to be a little bit confusing at first, but I hope that you will be okay with it." He opened the door to the SUV and settled Alexis in the middle seat between Ryan and Esposito. "Guys, this is my daughter, Alexis. Alexis, this is Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito, some of my friends from the police department I've been working with." Alexis extended both of her hands to the men.

"Nice to meet you, Detectives." Ryan chuckled.

"Well, isn't she just the cutest thing. You're very polite, Miss Castle." He smirked, ruffling her hair and closing the door. The boys helped her get her seat belt on as Rick ran around the truck and climbed into the driver's seat, locking the doors behind him.

"Alexis, this is Kate Beckett, my...girlfriend." Alexis smiled and shook Kate's hand softly.

"You're pretty, Kate." Kate chuckled, a blush creeping up her neck.

"Why, thank you, Alexis. You're very pretty too." Rick saw Alexis' eyes flitting to the baby in her arms as he pulled out of the driveway.  
>"And this," Rick gestured to the baby. "Is Gabe. He's your brother." Alexis' face broke out into an award winning smile as she glanced at the baby.<p>

"I have a little brother?" She beamed, wiggling anxiously. "That's awesome! I've always wanted a little brother!" She squeaked before going on about her sibling dreams to Ryan and Esposito. Kate glanced at Rick and looked down the road in front of them.

"Where are we going?" She whispered, choosing not to comment on the white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.

"My mother has been detained by the police in town. We're going to figure out where the hell she is, and how to get her back."

**XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX **

The precinct was almost completely dark, the only lights that were on were in the back part of the building. Rick stormed through the door, his gun digging into his back from where it was stuffed into his waistband.

He stalked up to the desk where a large cop was watching some static laden version of the news, his feet kicked up on the desk and a take-out container of old Chinese food cradled in his lap. The officer either didn't hear him, or chose to ignore the fact that he was there, because he just kept staring at the televsion.

"Excuse me." Rick snarled, causing the man to jump and swivel to face him.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm Captain Richard Castle. My mother, Martha Rodgers was taken from our home and I want to know where she is. Now." He snapped, his eyes narrowed.

"Well, give me a minute and I can check which camp she's being held at." He ticked away at the keyboard for a moment, scrolling through the list in front of him. "She's being held at Saint Andrew's camp in Vermont. There's nothing that I can do to help you, Mister Castle." The officer stood and extended his hand. Castle shook it without thinking, and immediately regretted it when the man withdrew his hand as if he'd been burned. Fear registered in the man's eyes as he rubbed his palm nervously. Castle knew that the man had put the pieces together. His body was only slightly warmer than fifty degrees, the lack of blood flowing through his body negating the need to keep his body functioning at normal temperature. His eyes flickered, the gold flecks that had developed glinting in the low light from the desk top lamp.

"You're...you're one of _them_." He stammered, his face paling as the blood rushed away from it.

The man reached for his gun quickly, but Rick was faster, his reflexes far faster than the officer's. He had pulled the trigger and was staring at a smoking barrel and a slowly bleeding out police officer. He turned and put a bullet into the surveillance cameras and the recording device next to them.

Sure, given the whole apocalyptic world order he doubted that there was going to be anything that they would do to find him and convict him for murder, but he wanted to be sure. He had a family to look out for.

He reholstered the gun and walked out of the police department quickly, scanning the streets for signs of movement as he jumped into the truck. Alexis had fallen asleep almost immediately when they left, and Ryan and Espostio now had their heads resting on hers, snoring softly.

Rick glanced at Kate as he tore out of the parking lot and headed to the highway. She bounced Gabe gently, her arms flexing under the continuing growth of the baby in her grasp.

"Where is she?"

"She's being held at Saint Andrew's camp in Vermont. We're going to get her out of there. They cannot hold my mother like some sort of caged animal just because they have some deranged idea that this is the way to contain this disease." She reached across the seat and laced her fingers with his gently, not even flinching at the cold flesh beneath her fingers.

"Let's go get her back."

**XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX **

****Saint Andrew's was really just a transformed penitentiary, with miles of razor wire-topped fences and large cement buildings. Rick stopped the truck at the check point on the outskirts. Inside a small security officer's building there were three uniformed guards huddled over a small card table.

He honked his horn impatiently until one of them sighed loudly and came over to the car, ducking his head and staring at Rick curiously.

"What do you want?" He snapped. The man was tall, and broad shouldered, streaks of grey peppered his dark brown hair. Rick stared at him, anger boiling in his stomach.

"I'm here to get my mother, Martha Rodgers. She doesn't need to be in this hell hole. She's not infected, and she's at no risk of becoming infected. I'm a Captain in the United States Navy SEALs, I think she's just as safe with me, if not safer, with me than she is with you rent-a-cops." The officer scowled at him, his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed in anger.

"Sorry. No one that has been through processing is getting out of here. It's against regulations. Now get the hell outta here." He turned to walk away, Rick's eyes searing into the back of his head.

"Alexis, you remember what I said about listening to everything I say?"

"Mhmm." His daughter replied quietly.

"Close your eyes." He rolled up the window and threw the door open, shutting it behind him. He grasped the officer's shoulder tightly, spinning him to face him. Rick wrapped his hand around the man's throat, squeezing until he felt the man's trachea crush like a cardboard paper towel roll. He tossed the man to the side and turned to where the other two officers were bolting from the security check point.

The first man reached him and Rick sunk his teeth into the soft, pink flesh of his throat, just under his chin. Hot, steaming blood flowed over his teeth as the man's arterial vein pumped slowly until completely stopped. He drew his gun and dropped a bullet into the man's brain to kill all function. He piled that body on top of the other officers.

When the final man reached him, he grabbed his throat as well, lifting him off the ground. He ripped the walkie-talkie from the man's duty belt before settling him onto the ground again.

"Listen to me, you pathetic little _fuck_. You're going to call your goons inside, and you're going to have them bring my mother to the front gate." He clicked the button and held it to the man's mouth. He issued the order and moments later, a uniformed guard led his mother to the front gate.

"Richard!" She gasped, shaking out of the guard's grasp and running to him. He wrapped his free arm around his mother's waist, hugging her tightly before ushering her into the truck.

He turned to the guard in his grasp and watched the other one that was hovering nervously at the gate. He shifted his gun to the man at the gate and fired, a bullet drilling through his forehead, and then pressed the gun to the temple of the man in front of him.

"Trust me, if you saw the way that things are out there, you wouldn't hesitate to have me do this for you. You'd probably thank me."

"Please don't do this, I have a family!" The man whimpered, tears streaming down his face.

"They're probably already dead, you understand?" Rick replied after a moment's consideration. The man nodded as well as he could with Rick's hand still wrapped around his throat.

"But what if they're not? You've got your family back, don't I deserve a chance to get mine?" The man whispered. Rick dropped him and shoved the man towards the parking lot.

"If they are alive, you don't have much time. Get the hell out of here and see if you can save them. Stay out of major cities, they're already overtaken. Take them to the country, find a cabin, one with two floors. Get water and food, then stay on the top floor. Get rid of the staircase. Save your family, man." The officer took off and Rick walked back to the truck, settling into the driver's seat and tearing out of the camp entrance.

"Richard, just because the world is overrun with mindless, undead eating machines doesn't mean that you need to drive like a maniac." His mother muttered from the back seat, her voice lacking any amusement.

"It's good to have you back, Mother." He chuckled. "Those eyes still closed, Lex?"

"Yes, Daddy." Rick relaxed slightly, glad that his daughter hadn't witnessed that.

"Good girl." He whispered, his eyes fixed on the road. "You can open them. Now."

"Where are we going, Daddy?" She asked quietly. Rick reached behind him, taking his daughter's hand in his and squeezing it gently.

"You remember when you were younger and I told you that someday we would move out to the country and I would get you a horse?" He saw her nod in the rearview mirror. "Well, today is someday, baby." He looked at the beaming girl in the back seat and the woman who looked at him with more admiration than he'd ever recieved in the seat next to him, causing a smile to cross over his face.

He chose not to tell them about the black spots that had blurred his vision since he'd bitten that man at the camp. His stomach churned angrily, hunger biting at the lining of his stomach and acid burning up the back of his throat.

He was starving.

_**Thoughts? Feelings? Reactions? Drop me a review and let me know. **_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	20. Chapter Nineteen

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe, Terri Edda Miller, and ABC Studio Productions.**_

_** They say to write what you know, and I know Maine. So that is where the plot of this story is going to transfer to. Also, I have the conclusion of this fic basically formulated in my head, so there will probably be about 3-5 more chapters (including the epilogue) before this is finished. **_

___Dresden, Maine_

The hills and fields stretched on for what seemed like miles, trees peppering the endless green. Alexis' face was pressed against the window, gaping at the stretches of water that curved through the winding through the valleys that were carved out of the Earth. She leaned over Esposito's lap, causing Ryan to chuckle and watch both of them curiously.

They turned up the long dirt road, slowly making their way around the potholes. The house at the end of the road was surrounded by acres upon acres of woods. The faded, blue side panels of the house were stained with an algae-green color. Castle slid out of the truck first, his gun drawn and stepped cautiously through the sliding glass door.

The floor plan was very open, a lot of the walls seeming to have been stopped midway through construction, the skeletal structure of them showing the wear-and-tear of years gone by since the were erected. The carpet beneath his feet looked as though it may have blue at one point, but foot traffic had worn it to a dull gray-blue color. An old floor model television flickered in the corner of the living room, white noise crackling from the speakers.

The stale smell of cigarette smoke clung to the log cabin style walls and ghosted through the air, and he caught sight of an ash tray on a tattered end table. He glanced at the brick chimney that was connected to the black wood stove on the far side of the living room, and noted that the fire was out, and the metal was cold.

Whoever lived in the house had been gone for a while, and when he found the bloody hand print on the wood floor in the dining room, the finger tips smeared as if the person had been dragged, he figured that they weren't going to be coming back.

He gestured for the rest of them to follow him inside, and his little...what? Family? Whatever they were, the piled out of the SUV and followed him inside. Ryan, Esposito, and Martha moved into the kitchen, searching the cupboards and freezer to collect what they could.

Kate settled into the maroon recliner, Alexis settled on one knee and Gabe settled on the other. Rick let his eyes roam over them slowly, and felt a warming in his chest. This was everything in the world that mattered to him. Gabe smiled at him playfully, a mouthful of teeth gleaming in the low light of the lamp next to them. He reached out his hand towards Rick, waving at him.

It was amazing, really. They boy had gone from an infant three days earlier to almost Alexis' size. The rate at which he was growing was intriguing, but it also concerned Rick. There was no telling exactly what would happen once he reached his full grown size.

He reached down and ruffled the boy's cinnamon hair playfully, drawing a chuckle from him as he leaned down to kiss Alexis' forehead.

"I love you two." He muttered, looking between his children.

"We love you too, daddy." They replied in unison. Kate just grinned at him, hugging them both to her chest tightly.

He gripped the side of the chair as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Flashes of the piles of dead bodies from the city scorching through his mind behind his closed eye lids. The metallic scent of blood, and the rich taste of flesh invaded his senses as his stomach churned with acid.

Ryan's hand on his shoulder startled him and he spun on his heel, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of his throat. He dropped him almost immediately when he realized what he was doing. Ryan scowled at him, rubbing his throat tenderly.

"Jesus, Ryan, I'm going to get a bell to put around your neck so that doesn't keep happening." Rick chuckled nervously, running his hand over the back of his neck.

"You don't look so good, Castle." Esposito muttered, ducking his head to look at Rick's face. His eyes were shadowed by dark circles and he was nearly white.

"I'm _starving_." He snarled, his mouth watering as he watched the pulsing of the vein in Ryan's neck. He silently allowed himself to wonder what it would be like to hold the smaller man's head to the side and strip the pale flesh away from the bleached white bone. He knew that it wouldn't take much to overpower him, he was strong, but Rick knew he was stronger.

When he finally tore himself from the fantasy, he found a raw, bloody steak in front of his face. His jaws snapped shut around the meat, tearing off a chunk before he even reached out to grab it. Esposito pulled his hand back quickly as soon as Rick had a grip on the meat.

"Shit, dude, make sure you leave my fingers attached to my hand."

"Sorry." He grumbled around another mouthful of meat. All too soon he was licking his fingers clean, but the dull, empty ache of hunger still clawed at him. "What else do we have?" He muttered, moving to the kitchen and pulling a large roast from the fridge.

He felt like an animal, and he felt like he was losing his grip on reality. He felt the disease clawing at him brain, and he could not do anything to stop it. He tore chunk after chunk from the roast until he was left staring at his blood-stained hands.

"Feeling any better?" Javier's voice next to him was suprising. He wondered why he hadn't heard the other man coming, but he just chalked it up to behind too involved in quenching his hunger.

"Not really. Still hungry, but I'm always hungry, so that's nothing new. I don't feel as dizzy anymore." He replied, rolling his shoulders to ease away the tension there. He sat down at the small kitchen table, dropping his head into his hands. "Esposito, I don't know what's happening to me." He whispered, not flinching when Javier settled into the chair next to him.

"What do you mean? Is it getting worse?"

"I can't...there's things in my head that shouldn't be there, man. I...I keep imagining attacking people. _Eating_ people, for fuck's sake, Javier. What am I supposed to do about that?"

"I honestly don't know what you're supposed to do about that, Rick. But, what I do know, is that you're a strong man. Hell, I've never met anyone with as much willpower as I've seen you exhibit since I met you, so if anyone can overcome this, it's you. And you've got all of us here to back you up if you need us, don't forget that." He set his hand on Rick's shoulder, the tension in his body as plain as the nose on his face, but he did his best to try to mask it. "We're all in this crazy, fucked up situation together."

"I know, I just...I don't know what's going to happen to me. Or Gabe. Kate. Alexis. Any of us. Is there any surviving this thing? I can't watch you guys die. I just _cannot_ do it. I've seen too many people that I care about die." He snarled, his nails digging into the wood of them table. Splinters dug underneath his nails and lodged into his skin before he even realized it was happening. He didn't feel it. Didn't feel the pain. Hell, he didn't really feel anything anymore. That was concerning.

He stood from the table slowly, his hands shaking slightly. Javier stood and placed his hand on Rick's elbow to steady him. Rick felt the dig of his gun in his lower back as he moved through the unfamiliar house, and it was an odd comfort.

He knew that, if it came down to it, none of them would do what needed to be done, but he hoped that he realized what was happening with enough time to take care of the problem himself. Bullet through his head, scramble his brains like a basket of eggs dropped off a building.

They were half way to the living room when he paused, sniffing the air cautiously. His gold eyes flashed and every hair on his body stood on end. A low growl rumbled through his chest.

"What's wrong?" Javier whispered, his hand resting on his service weapon.

"Someone is here." He replied slowly. The words had barely left his mouth when a blood curdling scream ripped through the silence of the house. They sprinted to the living room, but stopped dead in their tracks when they looked out the sliding glass door. Castle quickly moved to lock the door and began barking orders for everyone to get back, but no one could do anything but stare in shock. The last coherent thought that Castle remembered was hearing Ryan's strangled whisper.

"Jesus Christ..."

_**ThoughtS? Reactions? Suggestions? Drop me a review and let me know.**_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	21. Chapter Twenty

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe, Terri Edda Miller, and ABC Studio Productions. **_

__"Jesus Christ. They're here." Ryan whispered, his breath coming out as puff against the sliding glass door. They all stared out as the hoarde stumbled and slipped over the roots that the recent bouts of rain had exposed. Castle reached down to his pistol and thumbed the safety off cautiously, preparing himself.

"How the hell is this thing moving so fast?" Espostio asked, pulling his own gun from his waistband and checking the magazine.

"I don't know. Goodwin said that they were damn near unstoppable when they are hungry enough." Kate muttered.

"And, believe me, they're _always_ hungry." Castle growled, ignoring the concerned looks. "You guys go into the attic, take all of the guns and all of the food that you can find, and water. Lots of water."

"What about you, Castle?" Ryan asked.

"Don't worry about me. You guys get up there." He gestured to the stairs, waiting for Kate, Martha, Alexis, Gabe and Esposito to scurry up the stairs before turning to Ryan and handing him the power saw that he'd found laying on the tool bench in the sideroom. "After you get all of that stuff up there, you keep them up there, and you get rid of those stairs. Do you understand me?"

"Rick, I...There's no way that I can just leave you. Do you _not_ recall the last time that you tried to play the martyr and get yourself killed." Ryan chuckled nervously, glancing out at the rotting corpses coming towards the house.

"Detective Ryan, this is not a request, it's an order. You need to protect them. I'm going to do my best to fight of the drooling rot bags, but you need to make sure that they cannot get to our family." He barked, pointing angrily at the stairs. Ryan's deep blue eyes shifted between the sliding glass door and where Esposito was moving the last of the food and water up the stairs.

He sighed loudly and sprinted towards the stairs. Castle stared out the window and waited until he heard the whirring of an electric saw and the high pitched groan of wood giving way before falling to the ground. He dropped his head to the sliding glass door, taking a moment to compose himself before going forward. He had to admit that he was startled when he heard two guns click behind him, and he turned to find Ryan and Esposito standing behind him, checking their guns and ammo carefully.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

"Well, since we aren't currently serving, you can't pull the rank card on us, so we're here to help." Esposito responded, giving him a smartass smirk before gesturing to the door. Castle sighed, but slid the door open anyway. They stormed out, each of them going a different direction and began open firing at them. The corpses began dropping, one by one, but the numbers of the swarm didn't seem to dwindle.

Castle cursed under his breath as he climbed onto the roof of the SUV to get a better vantage point. His stomach turned over when he caught sight of Esposito, who was almost completely pinned down to the house, a circle of them closing in quickly. To his right, he found Ryan attempting to scramble up a tree to evade them. He fired round after round into them, rotted flesh tearing from their bleached white bone, and thick, black coffin liquor spewing from their stagnant veins.

"Esposito, get to higher ground! I'm going to help Ryan, you get to the roof and you _hold that point_, clear?" He barked over the monotonous droan of their moaning. Esposito nodded his acknowledgment and scrambled up the ladder that was leaning against the house, kicking it down once he'd reached the roof, and began picking off the dead that followed him.

Castle lept from the SUV and sprinted across the distance between him and Ryan. He dropped the empty magazine from his pistol and reloaded quickly. He grabbed the closest body, pressing his pistol to the...man? Yeah, it was once a man, he pressed the barrel of the gun to his head, pulling the trigger and watching the flesh fly from the front of his face. His hand shot out, gripping Ryan's bicep, and yanked him out of the tree. The two men sprinted towards where the crowd around where Esposito was held up had significantly dwindled.

They propped the ladder up against the house again and scrambled up the metal rungs until they felt the scrape of shingles under their palms. Rick kicked the ladder again, nailing one of the undead so hard that his head shattered against the wet ground.

The men stood close together and pumped rounds into them until the only thing that remained was the sick stench of rotted flesh, and piles of dead bodies. They moved slowly towards the window to the attic, swinging through the open glass and took a moment to compose themselves, wiping flecks of black blood from their faces before moving to find them.

Kate, Martha, and Alexis all sat, huddled in a corner with a candle burning in front of them. Alexis' quiet whimpers had Castle dropping to his knees beside her and cradling her head to his chest, rocking her gently, until she fell into a soft slumber. The trauma of the situation had been taxing on all of them, but her smaller body, and smaller system had been drained. He stood and laid her on the air mattress that Ryan had blown up for him, and pulled Esposito's jacket over her.

He moved back to the group, glancing around the room frantically as he found that something was missing. His eyes met Kate's, which were burdened with salty tears.

"Kate, where is Gabe?" He asked quietly, moving to sit next to her and wrap his arm around her shoulders.

"They took him. He dropped down to try to help you fight them, I tried to stop him, but he was too fast. He walked out the door and they took him, Rick." She sobbed, burying her head in his chest. Rick held her tightly to him, and stared straight ahead, his jaw slack and his eyes wide.

They had stolen his son. They had made a _big_ mistake by doing that. Those things had pulled out their ace in the hole and they had declared full on war with a man that they had no idea exsisted. They were mindless and they were something that most people wouldn't be able to stop. Lucky for him, he wasn't most people. They had no idea what they had just gotten themsevles into.

_**Two weeks later...**_

__The leaves crunched under Castle's feet as he moved slowly between the trees, tracking the scuffling footprints in the mud and the leaves carefully. Behind him, the rest of the gang followed quietly, none of them daring to break his concentration. They had been searching for Gabe since the day of the attack, keeping their operational base in the house that thye'd found, and the stress of not being able to find his son had definitely gotten to Rick.

His temper was shorter than it ever had been before, except of course with Kate, Martha and Alexis. Ryan and Eposito, however, got the brunt of his rage. The men fought, verbally and physically. They were pissed off at each other more often than not, and it was putting a strain on their team.

Castle inhaled deeply, the putrid smell of rotted flesh invading his nostrils. His nose crinkled and he took a sharp turn to the right, disappearing in the trees. The others were barely able to make the turn to follow him.

He broke into a clearing, twigs and branches snapping under his hands as he pushed through the foliage. The others hovered on the tree line, watching his rigid form standing in the middle of the clearing. All of his muscles were tense, his senses on high alert as he stared straight ahead.

There was a blur of motion and, before the rest of them could react, there was a large man holding a combat knife to Rick's neck. Castle squirmed under the other man's grasp, but he ended up on his back with the man hovering over him.

A feral snarl tore from his throat as he used his weight to shift their postion, dropping a precisely placed elbow into the man's temple. The skin split for a second, but immediately fused itself back together again. It was then that Castle pulled back long enough to look at the man.

He had light brown hair that had grown out to the point of falling over his eyes. He had a stretch of sinewy muscle underneath the clothes that looked much too big for him, Castle figured that they'd been scavenged so they weren't even his.

A sprinkling of cinnamon colored scruff coated his chin, and there was a splatter of bruises and cuts across his face. Rick pushed himself off the man, using his hands to scoot himself away in the dirt.

"Oh my God." He whispered.

The man stood slowly, brushing the dirt off of his jeans before speaking. His voice was a low, gravelly timbre and caused the hair on the back of Rick's neck to stand on end.

"Hey, Dad."

_**Thoughts? Suggestions? Reactions? Drop me a review and let me know.**_

_** Much love, J. Rook**_


	22. Chapter TwentyOne

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe, Terri Edda Miller, and ABC Studio Productions. **_

_** I'm so happy that all of you have come with me on this wild ride. This is, sadly, the last chapter. I would love to have a review from you guys recapping your experience with this fic, just for my own nostalgic purposes if you guys wouldn't mind. :) I love each and every one you guys! Always.**_

__"Gabe? Jesus Christ, you scared the hell outta me." Rick heaved a sigh of relief and dropped his hands to his side.

"Sorry, Pop. Didn't mean to scare ya." He chuckled low in his throat and brushed past him to where Kate was huddled behind a tree. He wrapped her in a tight hug and dropped a kiss to her forehead. "Hey, Mom. I missed you." He smiled and turned to Alexis, ruffling her hair.

"What happened?" Kate asked, quirking an eyebrow at her son. Gabe shrugged and leaned against a tree closest to him, scratching his shoulder against the bark.

"Well, I went out to try to help them, and there was a group of them at the door. They drug me into the woods and tried to kill me. I got away, and have been ducking them ever since. I killed quite a few of them, I guess they didn't think that I'd grow so fast." He chuckled.

"Yeah, none of us did. But, then again, I don't think that they really _think_ about much." Ryan replied, surveying the man in front of him. He lifted Gabe's arms and examined them carefully before continuing in a circle around him. "Good Lord, boy, you look like one of those poster boys on the Men's Health magazine."

"Yeah, he kinda reminds me of the drill instructor I had back in the day." Esposito chuckled. Gabe shot him a curious look, but didn't question the statement, chosing instead to start back towards the house. The rest of the gang fell in line behind him and Rick as they quickly made their way through the trees.

"So, what's the plan here, Gabe?" Rick asked quietly enough that only they could hear the question. Gabe pulled a half-assed shrug and shot Rick a glance.

"Well, they're moving fast, but from what I saw, their numbers aren't dropping. People have to be running a resistance still, but I don't think it's going to do them a damned bit of good. For everyone one of them that someone kills, one of them turns two humans. It's an uphill battle on a muddy hill, Dad." He sighed, and Rick felt a bit of an envious twinge in his stomach that his son still had the need for air.

"It's a futile war." He muttered, running his hand over the back of his head. "So, what are we going to do?"

"The only thing that we can do. Keep running, keep fighting them when they show up, and lay low. Don't try to talk to any other survivors that you come across. So far, the one's that I've seen, just assume that you're infected. They shoot first and ask questions later. I don't want to see any of them die."

"But how long can we keep running? The gas stations, grocery stores, everything, are all closing down. They're running or they're dying. What happens when the food runs out? Or the water? What then?" Rick snapped under his breath, keeping his gaze straight forward so that the others didn't know that they were panicked themselves.

"Then we hunt. We get water from the streams, there's a freshwater creek that runs down the side of the mountain about four miles North of here, we can fill bottles, boil it at the house so that it's clean, and we can drink from that. We've got guns and ammo at the house."

"Gabriel, the bullets won't last forever. You'll have to make bows and arrows to hunt with once those are gone."

"Why did you say 'you'll have to make' like you're not going to be with me making them?" He asked, fear nipping at the edges of his voice.

"You know that I'm not going to be around forever, eventually taking care of them is going to fall on you."

"Dad, have you taken a good look at yourself lately? I have a weird feeling that, if things go the way they have been, you'll probably outlive all of us." He chuckled, clapping his father on the shoulder and jogging up the stairs of the porch. Rick silently questioned when the hell they'd gotten to the house so quickly.

"Rick, we need to-." Kate's voice got lost in the loud, whirring sound of another of his dilusions creeping into his mind. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to ward off the waking nightmare that he was sure was lurking around the corner, but it was no good. When he opened his eyes, he saw his friends...his family, stripped of flesh, their wet, red muscles glimmering in the setting sun light.

He lunged forward and ripped a mouthful of flesh from the side of Ryan's face, using his hair as an anchor. The warm, salty meat mixed with the sickly sweet slip of the blood on his tongue. He tore chunk after chunk until the horrific crunch of bone underneath his teeth had him snapping back into reality.

It took him a second to realize that Kate's tiny wrist was clutched in his grasp, her tendons and bones shifting under his fingers. He could tell he was close to breaking the bone and released her immediately, guilt hovering on the edges of his mind.

"I...I...Kate, I'm so sorry..." He whimpered, his hand reaching out to touch her shoulder. She resisted the urge to pull away from him, and nodded her acceptance, her other hand rubbing the bruised skin gently.

Rick and Gabe's heads both snapped to the left, their eyes locking on something in the trees. Their muscles were rigid as they both leaned towards the noise to listen better.

"Did you hear that?" Rick whispered, his voice low. Gabe gave a short nod before they tore off towards the noise, their feet pounding the ground beneath them. Branches tore pieces of flesh from Rick's forearms as he passed the trees, but he couldn't feel the stinging that he knew should be there.

His muscles burned, the coffin liquor that was pumping through them acting like battery acid in his veins. He couldn't remember the last time that he had wanted to keep running that badly. The slow burn was enough to remind him that he wasn't completely dead yet. He inhaled deeply, the smell of warm blood pumping through flesh and muscles rippled through his entire body as he pushed himself to go faster.

When they broke into the next clearing, they found themselves facing three of them. The forms were hunched over a deer carcass, ripping hunks of meat away and swallowing them down hungrily. Rick felt his stomach churn in hunger as he watched them.

Beside him, Gabe cracked his knuckles and smirked at Castle, nudging his shoulder playfully.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked quietly so that he didn't draw their attention. Castle returned the smirk and nodded. The men had crossed the clearing with their knives drawn and were slicing open their heads before the forms even turned to look at them. Thick, black coffin liqour dripped from the blade of Rick's knife as he slipped it back into the sheath and glanced hungrily at the deer.

He hopped over the pile of bodies that they had created and started ripping the deer apart, patches of fur and all slipping down his throat and into his stomach. He groaned at the taste of the still warm meat on his tongue.

His fingers were shaking as he licked the sticky blood from them. His eyes darted over the carcass, looking at his bite marks in the flesh with a sick, disgusted fascination.

"Daddy?" Alexis' tiny voice called from across the feeling and Rick snapped into a standing position, fear tightening in his stomach.

"Lex." He gasped, starting towards her with his hand outstretched. He stopped when she began to scamper away from him, fear etched into her features. He glanced at the blood staining his fingers and could only imagine what his face looked like. "Alexis? It's just me." He whispered as the tears started to trickle down her face.

She turned and bolted until she reached where Kate was standing and looking at him sympathetically, the small child burrowing her face into Kate's pant leg. His heart dropped to his feet at the sight of his little girl being completely and utterly terrified of him.

Gabe crossed to her and lifted Alexis into his arms, tucking her into his chest and turning her away from Rick. He gestured to the bottles of water that Ryan and Esposito had extended to him. He grabbed them and quickly scrubbed the evidence of the blood from his face and hands.

Kate's hand snaked over his shoulder and pulled him closer to her, but he jumped away from her with a vicious growl, his teeth bared. Her eyes doubled in size and she tried to contain an instinctive flinch of fear in her muscles.

"I...Kate, I'm sorry." He whispered, moving away from the group of them and ducking into the tree line. He had just slipped behind a large Oak tree when Kate caught up to him.

"Rick, what's going on?"

"I don't know. I just...it's like I can't control my own thought anymore, Kate. There's things in my head that shouldn't be there. Did you see Alexis' face? My own daughter was _scared_ of me, Kate. What the hell am I supposed to do? I'm the one that is supposed to be protecting her, but, in the end, I'm the one that she needs protection from." He snapped, his fingers gripping the bark of the tree so tightly that it fell off in large chunks in his palm.

"Rick, she's not scared of you. She's just a little confused. All of this is new to her, and she's going to need some time to adjust. Her 'little' brother is a full grown man, her father is undead, and there is a zombie apocalypse happening around her."

"But this is exactly when she needs me, and I can't be here for her. You need to promise me something, Kate." He whispered, turning to face her. His golden eyes flickered in the low light of the forest, sending a chill up her spine.

"Anything." Kate replied, her voice barely audible to most, but Rick could hear her loud and clear.

"I need you to kill me." He replied, reaching out and placing his hand on her shoulder. She ripped away from his touch, her mouth falling open and her heart pounding in her chest.

"No!" She barked, looking at him as if he were insane. "You can't make me do that, Rick. I...Rick, I love you!" She whispered, her voice waivering, but he could tell she meant the words.

He felt his heart breaking, but he couldn't change his mind now. He knew what he had to do. He wouldn't endanger his family.

"Fine. I won't make you do it." She was suddenly faced with his back as he stalked back into the clearing where everyone was waiting for him. She jogged after him nervously, not completely sure of what he was going to be doing. He gestured for Alexis to come to him and wrapped her in a tight hug, kissing her softly.

"I love you so much, Alexis. Never, _ever_ forget that okay?" He whispered, his voice cracking as he spoke into her hair.

"I love you too, Daddy. I won't."

"Promise?"

"I pinky swear." Alexis linked her pinky with his and pulled him into another hug. He squeezed her so tightly that her face disappeared into his chest. When he finally released her, all her could do was straighten into a standing position and run his hand over her hair.

"Mother, I need you to take Alexis back in the house." He whispered, his voice hard and icy. Martha stared at him a moment, her mouth open and poised to argue, but the look he shot her was enough for the protest to die on her lips.

"Come on, dear." She said with feigned happiness, her hand falling on Alexis' shoulder and leading her back up the pathway. Rick's eyes followed them until they had disappeared from sight before turning to Ryan.

"I need you to do something for me, Kevin."

"Rick, please don't do this..." Kate pleaded from behind him.

"I need you to take this gun," He handed Ryan the pistol that he'd had tucked in the waistband of his jeans. "And I need you to put a bullet in my brain."

"I...what? No...no, I can't do that...why?" Ryan stammered, sweat beading on his forehead. Esposito's muscles quivered under his skin, drawing Rick's attention and causing him to lick at his lips hungrily, his teeth grazing the plump skin of his own tongue.

"Ryan, you don't understand!" He barked, his free hand balling into a tight fist as the other shoved the gun into Ryan's unsuspecting grasp. "I'm getting worse! I don't know how long I'm going to be able to control my impulses. You, of all people, should know what can happen when I lose control." He gestured to the bruising around Ryan's throat which had begun to heal and had almost completely yellowed away.

"I'm not going to kill you, Castle!" Rick's hands shot out and wrapped Esposito into him, Esposito's back pressed against his chest and Rick's arm wrapped around Javier's throat to keep him in place. His teeth hovered over the pulsing of Javier's jugular vein. Ryan drew the gun up instinctively, drawing back the hammer and taking his aim.

"Do it, Kevin, or he dies." He snarled, letting everything but the tunnel vision between him and the barrel of that gun fade away.

"Rick, _please_ don't make me do this." He whimpered, tears hovering on the corners of his eyes.

"I SWEAR TO GOD, I WILL END HIM IF YOU DO NOT DO IT, KEVIN!" Rick bellowed, biting the soft skin on the side of Javier's throat just hard enough to bring the blood to the surface, but not hard enough to break skin. "PULL THE TRIGGER!"

Kevin's mind was swimming, and he couldn't focus on any one thing. There was too much pounding through every part of his brain. His finger hovered on the trigger, the grooved metal scraping against his fingertips. He squeezed his eyes shut and began counting down from five.

5...

4...

3...

2...

He didn't get the chance to reach one before a loud gunshot rang out through the forest. His eyes shot open and he found Esposito staring back at him with wide eyes. On the shoulder of his shirt was thick, black liquid stained the fibers. Esposito brushed it away frantically before moving to stand next to Ryan, throwing and arm around his shoulder.

They both stared at Rick's limp body a moment before Kate rushed to it, tears streaming down her face and sobs clawing at her throat.

"Thanks, bro." Esposito whispered, touching the bite mark on his neck cautiously.

"I didn't do anything..." Ryan muttered, shaking his head and dropping the gun into the leaves at their feet.

"If you didn't, then who the hell did?" They both turned to look at Gabe, who's gun was still smoking.

"Gabe? What the hell did you _do_?" Kate snarled, standing and staring at her son in disbelief.

"I did what needed to be done. Dad was right, he was a ticking time bomb. He did what he thought was going to be best for us, he was trying to _protect_ all of us." Gabe snapped before tucking the gun into the waistband of his pants and pulling a match from his pocket. Ryan watched him curiously, wondering where he'd learned all of this and where he'd gotten all of his supplies.

"So, now what do we do?" Esposito whispered between his gritted teeth.

"We burn the body. Get back to the house. Make dinner, figure out how we're going to ration out everything to make it last as long as possible. Once that's gone we're going to have to hunt and make our own weapons when the bullets are gone. And we fight back. They bring something to the table, we bring something bigger and badder. It's what dad would have wanted." He struck the match and flicked it sadly on Rick's body, the scent of burnt flesh permeating the air.

"So, now we're just supposed to follow you like you're the damned messiah? Three weeks ago you were teething!" Ryan chuckled sarcastically.

"You can either follow me, or stay here until they suck your bone marrow dry." Gabe responsed as he started walking back towards the house, his arm around Kate's shoulders to comfort her. "But you better make your choice now, Javi." Javier heaved a large sigh and he and Ryan started up the path as well.

"You better be sure about this, Gabriel. I changed your diapers, I think you owe me one or two ass-savings." He grumbled as they climbed up the stairs to the house. Kate and Ryan brushed past him and entered the house but Esposito hung back to talk to Gabe. "You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Of course. I learned from the best." He smiled, clapping Esposito on the shoulder.

"Well, than we'll all be happy to keep this up as long as we can."

"That's good, tio. Because I'm officially taking over situational control."

_**There you have it guys :) I'm considering a couple options for a possible epilogue, but I kinda like where this ended.**_

_** Much love,**_

_** J. Rook**_


	23. 22: It Is Never As It Seems

_**Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters belong to Andrew W. Marlowe, Terri Edda Miller, and ABC Studio Productions.**_

_** I know that I pissed some of you off with where I ended the last chapter. That was the idea. I needed you to all believe that I was honestly going to end it there for this epilogue to work. But, c'mon guys, I wouldn't leave you hanging like that! I already have a plan for the sequel to this fic, which I will name at a later date, and this epilogue will hopefully clear everything up for everyone. I'm sorry if I lost any of my audience due to the last chapter, but I had to do it. Love you guys ;)**_

__**That night...**

Gabe stood on the porch, his eyes transfixed on the large moon that hung over the trees against the velvet black sky. The rest of the group had gone to sleep hours before, their gentle snoring a harmony in his ears as they dreamt.

A shiver ran through his body as he recalled the horror that it had been to pull the trigger on his own father. His body had crumpled to the ground so quickly that he almost thought it could have been a dummy standing behind Esposito. But he remembered the cold, yellow eyes that had been fixed on Ryan. The glint of his father's teeth as they grazed Esposito's neck viciously.

He couldn't stand to see his mother so broken down. Tears had fallen from her eyes unendingly as she'd held Alexis and Martha to her chest. Even Ryan and Esposito had shed a few tears into their coffee mugs, though they would never admit it if he brought it up. Gabe had kept up the stoic facade of indifference that he'd perfected.

"Are they okay?" Came the quiet whisper from the edge of the trees. Gabe pulled a half shrug and walked down the steps towards the forest slowly. He kept his hands tucked into the pockets of his too-big jeans to keep them situated around his hips.

"They're doing as well as can be expected. Mom, Gram, and Alexis are a wreck. I think they're still pissed at me."

"Well, that's to be expected." Rick nodded, stepping forward enough so that the pale moonlight washed over his marred features. "So, they bought it, then?"

"Yeah, I made sure to get them out of the clearing as fast as possible like we talked about. How are you feeling?"

"Well, you're a damned good shot." Rick touched the dark bruise around his Adam's apple tenderly where there had been a hole ripped through his flesh a hours earlier. "That hurt something fierce, but it healed up pretty fast."

Gabe reached over and flicked a charred piece of cloth over the slightly scarred skin of his forearm. He hated the fact that he and his father were hiding this from everyone. They had discussed the plan when he had returned, their hushed voices too low for anyone but themselves to hear on the trek back.

He had found out, when the others had captured him, that if the bullet intended to "kill" them didn't go directly into the brain, it wasn't going to do a damned bit of good. They would heal and stand up as if nothing had ever happened. And forget everything that zombie movies had ever depicted. Fire did nothing, after the flames were extinguished, the skin would heal, the char falling away like scraping a barbeque grill. They were damned near unstoppable.

"Yeah, I thought lighting you on fire really sold it." He chuckled, shooting his father a wink.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up now, wise guy. One of these days I'm going to pay you back for that." Rick rolled his eyes and playfully pushed Gabe, sending him stumbling back a few feet. Gabe chuckled and returned the favor, his large hand landing in the middle of Rick's chest and shoving him towards the trunk of a large Pine tree.

"Where are you going to go now?" He asked quietly, his face suddenly somber.

"I'm going to go back to New York, try to finish solving the case, if anything is left to investigate when I get there. I think that the solution to this whole ordeal is in whoever killed Marquez." Gabe nodded his acceptance, but an air of sadness still hung about him like a dark cloud.

"When can we tell them? I hate having to see Mom like this. She's a mess."

"I know, Gabe, I hate it too, but we can't let them know that I'm alive. It's dangerous." He wrapped his arms around Gabe tightly, pulling him into a long hug. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this charade, son."

"If I hadn't told you about what I learned while I was with them, you wouldn't have a charade to pull me into. You'd have just had to pull a disappearing act and they'd all be in the same situation."

"I suppose. But you're my son. I'm supposed to protect you too, not asking you to lie for me." Rick grumbled, running his hands through the tattered remains of his hair. Gabe glanced down at him and shook his head.

"You don't have to protect me, Dad. I'm a big boy."

"Three weeks ago you were an infant. It's still a little rattling to have such a change."

"Rattling? Please tell me that's not your idea of a baby joke." Rick chuckled and shook his head.

"That was completely unintentional, I swear." He extended his hand son, who grasped it firmly. They shook hands, a proud grin stretched across Rick's face. "Take care of them, Gabe. I'll be back as soon as I can. If you guys get overrun and need to move on, leave a note and I'll find you. I promise."

"You got it. Good luck, and be careful. You better come back, old man, or I swear to God, I'll track you down and kill you myself." He chuckled.

"You tried that once. Can't do it, remember?"

"Good point. But, still, come back safe, okay? I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, Gabe." And with that, Rick turned on his heel and trotted into the forest, his form disappearing like a vision. Gabe watched his father's back weaving between large tree trunks until he could no longer strain and hear the almost silent footfalls against the dried leaves. He sighed and headed back up the stairs to the house to make a round and check on everyone before settling into the living room for the rest of the night.

His dad was going to figure everything out, and he'd come riding back on a white steed, telling them that they were all saved. He had to. It was the only chance that any of them had at making it out of the stalemate that the war had become alive.

_**So, the next multi-chapter dealing with Rick's return and their war against the zombies should be up soon. Forgive me? Drop me a review and let me know what you think.**_

_** Much love,**_

_** J. Rook**_


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